Fraser Campbell Thomas

1969 - 2021

Fraser Campbell Thomas

Fraser Campbell Thomas was surrounded by his family and friends when he died at home on Wednesday June 23, 2021, after a most courageous fight against bone marrow cancer and the many complications that came with it. He had beaten the disease to remission in 2017 with the gift of life, a perfectly matched stem cell transplant from his sister Susan Cleveland, and enjoyed several years of living his absolute best life before the cancer came back.

Fraser was born on Friday February 21, 1969, in North Bay, Ontario, the fifth child of Dorwin and Bonnie Thomas. The family moved from Canada to Shelburne, Vermont just before Fraser's first birthday. He grew up there, attending Shelburne Community School and Champlain Valley Union High School. Fraser worked in the restaurant business for decades in Canada, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Florida. While he enjoyed his craft and became very good at it, his adventures took him toward addiction and alcoholism. He would return to Vermont for his last entanglement with addiction, followed by ten solid years of successful recovery. Fraser died with his sobriety intact, something very important to him.

During what he called his Bonus Time after his first successful battle with cancer, Fraser traveled the world and celebrated life fully. He didn't pass up an opportunity to go somewhere, be it to the Cape, Hawaii, California, Florida, Mexico, Europe, or just a random little day trip in Vermont. To say that Fraser had countless close friends is an understatement. He truly touched us all with his humor, stories, concern, encouragement, and timeless full-body hugs. He used his own strength in recovery to help countless other addicts find their way to sobriety. His presence in the Burlington recovery community will be painfully missed for a very long time. His friendship changed lives for the better.

In addition to too many friends to count or list, Fraser is survived by his mother Bonnie Thomas of Shelburne, siblings Deborah (Dana) Drew of Boston, Susan (Phillip) Cleveland of Huntington Beach, CA, Christopher Thomas of Shelburne, Derek Thomas of Massachusetts, stepmother June Thomas of Fort Meyers, FL, nieces and nephews Katelyn, Elaine, Zachary, Alexander, Madeline, and Grace, great-nephews Owen and Henry, and great-niece Thea. He was recently predeceased by his father, Dorwin "Poppa" Thomas of Fort Meyers, FL.

A service to celebrate and honor Fraser will be held on Saturday August 7th, at 10:00 AM at the First United Methodist Church (The Red Door Church) in Burlington. Friends are encouraged to send photos and stories to: fraser photosandstories@gmail.com for a slideshow to be shown at the service. In lieu of flowers, Fraser would have loved that donations be made to the Act One Bridge Program on Pearl Street in Burlington, the place he credited with the beginning of his sober life.