William Fraser

News Obituary Article

STONE MOUNTAIN: William Fraser, 86, Civil War enthusiast, photographer

By RICK BADIE

When he was a youngster, an uncle showed William Fraser how to make a box camera. It was an introduction to a career in photography.

"He and his friend took pictures with that box camera all the time," said his daughter, Patti Muscianisi of Snellville. "My dad took excellent pictures. They looked like postcards."

William E. Fraser, 86, of Stone Mountain, died Thursday of a suspected aneurism at Embracing Hospice. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. today at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Wages & Sons Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Mr. Fraser was born in Newport, R.I., and lived in Staten Island, N.Y. He moved to metro Atlanta in 1988 after retiring as a gallery manager for the Eastman Kodak Company. Prior to that position, he had been a salesman for the company, his employer for nearly four decades.

Mr. Fraser took photographs wherever he and Josephine Maugeri, his wife of 60 years, traveled. He enlarged some of the images he captured on trips to Italy, England and Hawaii into 8-by-10-inch photos. Even when he was confined to a wheelchair, he still took photos.

"He loved to photograph flowers and all kinds of nature," his daughter said. "So I would always bring him flowers."

His passion for photography was equaled by a love for reading, particularly history.

Favorite publications were Shutterbug, World War II Magazine, The American Legion Magazine and Civil War Times.

He and his daughter often browsed through items at Stone Mountain Relics, a store that specializes in antique war memorabilia.

"We would sit on the floor, digging through boxes for all kinds of artifacts," she said. "He could tell you the whole history of the Civil War. He had a really good memory that way."

Mr. Fraser's appetite for reading resulted in a reunion with two of his Army buddies. He found their names in World War II Magazine. One was in New York; the other, whom he got to see last year after 60 years, lived in Asheville.

Other survivors include two grandchildren.

© 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution