Betty Louise Fraser

February 28, 2017 marked the passing of Betty Fraser, a remarkable wife, mother and friend. She slipped quietly away at home. Born to Katherine and Thomas Archibald Dundas in Santa Barbara. The Dundas family settled along the Yaquina River after Betty finished High School in Forest Grove. She received her B.A. in art from the University of Oregon in 1946, then returned to Newport and helped her father finish building the family house. While on leave from the Navy in 1949, Charles Fraser met Betty while visiting a cousin in Newport and they were married that summer. Betty joined Charles while he finished his Navel career, a life which took them to live in many places including the islands of Sicily and Malta. After Charlie's retirement in 1964, the Fraser family, then including 3 children, came home to the Oregon coast and a life along the Yaquina River. A few years after returning to Newport, Betty commuted to OSU to earn her teaching credentials. She began teaching art, splitting her days between Siletz and Eddyville, involved in a new program designed to improve "sub-standard" education in rural schools. She said her students responded beautifully to the new art program. She loved teaching and was encouraged when they learned to discover art in their local surroundings as well as in the classroom. Betty spent the last several years of teaching at Newport High School where she ended her 21 year career. Betty continued her very busy life after her retirement in 1990 giving endlessly of herself with hands that were rarely still. She was a decade's long member of both PEO and St. Stephen's church where she created beautiful floral bouquets for the alter, often including flowers from her garden. For many years she tirelessly cooked gallons of clam chowder, created crafts to sell, helped decorate the church and hand printed the posters for the church's annual Christmas Bazaar. There was little sitting room in the church on the Sundays Betty had the coffee duty and served her biscotti. A strong and independent thinker, Betty had an amazingly spirited sense of life which carried her through a well lived 92 years. She embraced her Scottish heritage, the virtues of which she instilled in her children, along with the love of cooking and the importance of being kind and compassionate. Her sense of beauty, artistic talent, travel experiences and her love of her coastal environment were reflected in her beautiful garden and the warm and inviting home she created where she reveled in gathering family and friends together and lavishing them with wonderful meals. Betty loved her home along the river where she enjoyed gardening, watching life on the river and feeding the birds, the sightings of which she kept an ongoing tally of by her kitchen window. She was a reader of mysteries and history, a lover of Dalmatians and Cairn Terriers, enjoyed art, playing bridge, traveling to Scotland to visit her sister and all things British. Quiet moments were often spent watching tennis and golf. She was cherished by her children, and a kind and generous friend to many. Betty leaves with us the inspiration to spend time with family and would want us to toast to enduring friendships, lifelong and beyond. Betty is survived by children: Duncan, Anne and Robert; grandchildren: Nicholas and Allyx; great granddaughter Nevaeh; many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by husband Charles; sisters: Elizabeth and Christabel; and brother Tom.

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Betty Louise Fraser

April 24, 1924 - February 28, 2017