James B. Frazer

James B. Frazer Sudbury, MA James Bernard "Barney" Frazer of Sudbury, MA, died on April 15, 2009 after living courageously with multiple myeloma for 5 years. Born on April 19, 1934 in Battle Creek, Michigan, he was the son of the late David H. Frazer, Jr. and Alice (Onen) Frazer. Mr. Frazer attended elementary school in Michigan and the Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut where he was Class of 1952 valedictorian. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1956 with a BA in Physics. Hired right out of college by Lincoln Lab at MIT, Mr. Frazer next worked at RAND Corporation/System Development Corporation in Santa Monica, California. He spent the rest of his career at the Mitre Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts working from 1959 until his "retirement" in 1995. He was promptly hired as a contract engineer and continued to work at Mitre until December of 2008. A Radar System Engineer, Mr. Frazer made significant contributions to complex programs that received awards for excellence. At the beginning, Mr. Frazer worked on SAGE, then the NORAD combat operations center and its new satellite tracking mission. From there he moved into the radar division in 1979. Mr. Frazer told about developing outdoor burglar alarms for the Air Force to protect its Strategic Air Command bombers. "It was a wonderful laser fence," he said. "A prodigious thing, it towered six feet high and was made out of impressive brass components, and it worked. The Secret Service tested it and discovered they couldn't sneak through it." One of his pet projects was the Joint Surveillance System replacement for the original SAGE air defense system. It met the challenge of accommodating three different commands-Continental United States, Canadian, and Alaskan-with three different missions and requirements. His work included numerous technical publications and classified programs. Mr. Frazer read voraciously and his keen mind was admired by colleagues, friends and family alike. His children appreciated his writing and editing skills. He enjoyed sailing, naval history, maps and early music. He was active in the Boston Early Music scene and learned to play a variety of early wind and string instruments as an adult. He attended the monthly Boston Map Society meetings and prior to his death was involved in researching the history of land transfer on property in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. He loved gourmet food, fine wine and travel and his family recall many wonderful trips to Europe, sailing off Cape Cod and ski trips in New England and the Colorado Rockies. Recent family vacations included trips to Wellfleet and a three generation reunion at a dude ranch. Throughout his illness, Mr. Frazer always chose active treatment, stating that any side effects were "better than the alternative, which would be death!" He fought his disease bravely until the very end, keeping abreast of the latest research, reviewing his lab values regularly with his medical team and refusing to consider hospice care. He leaves his wife of 52 years, Marilyn of Sudbury, daughter Carolyn Bridgemohan and her husband Narine of Sudbury, MA, daughter Anjali Catherine of Albuquerque, New Mexico, daughter Christine Evans and her husband Andy Morgan of Washington, D.C., granddaughters Abigael and Chloe Bridgemohan, close friend Claudia Evans of Boston, brother Michael and his wife Floice, sister Alice Slaughter and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews. His family is grateful for all he gave to us including his incredible energy and desire to learn, his strong moral character and his devotion to all of us. Services were held at the Dee Funeral Home in Concord, Massachusetts on Saturday April 18. Donations in his memory may be made to the Jerome Lipper Center for Multiple Myeloma at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th Floor, Brookline, MA 02445-7226, Attn: Contributions Services or the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 383 Main Avenue, 5th Floor, Norwalk, CT 06851. Memorials are available at the Shaw Funeral Home, 2838 Capital Avenue SW, Battle Creek, (269) 979-3838. For online guest book, visit www.deefuneralhome.com.