Fraser, Harriette Wall a longtime summer resident of Provincetown, died on January 12, 2015, at the age of 93. She was the wife of Capt. LeRoy B. Fraser, Jr., USN (Retired) who pre-deceased her in 1980.
Harriette was born in Rockledge, Florida, to Harriette and Roy Wall on May 5, 1921. She attended Rockledge schools, graduating from Rockledge High School at the top of her class, and attended the University of Alabama. When WWII broke out, she left college to attend business school and began working at the Banana River Naval Air Station near Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was there that she met a dashing naval aviator from New Haven, Connecticut, LeRoy Fraser. Harriette and Roy married in 1943. The next thirty years were spent as a navy couple moving thirty-three times and living in such varied places as Puerto Rico, Newport, RI; Albuquerque, NM; Omaha, NE; Las Vegas, NV and Paris. The couple retired to Woodbridge, CT in 1971 to build their dream home and finally begin putting down roots. After her husband’s death, Harriette moved back to her childhood home in Florida to be near her father and sister.
Harriette first visited Provincetown as a bride in the ‘40s, staying in her husband’s family’s cottage in the East End. She immediately fell in love with the beauty and bohemian atmosphere of the town. She would visit Provincetown almost every summer of her life, and spent entire summers here after retirement.
One of “Hat’s” passions was gardening. She planted gardens all over America trying to make a new town feel like home for her family. She loved planting, weeding, watering, and arranging flowers. She truly had a green thumb. The Fraser cottage perennial gardens are still much admired by passerbys and appreciated by neighbors. Harriette was very artistic and an amateur oil painter. Photography was another avid interest. She could be seen, camera in hand, at dawn and dusk, on the beach or rambling into the woods at Beech Forest searching for just the right reflection on the ponds. She was a wonderful cook, specializing in Southern home cooking, but enjoying almost every cuisine. Current events and studying the news always intrigued her and she loved to enthusiastically share ideas and verbally spar with any willing partner. She was a vivacious, independent, and adventuresome woman.
Harriette attended the Christian Union Church of North Truro for many summers and loved participating in Bible Study there. A lifelong Presbyterian, she had a strong and enduring faith.
Harriette is survived by her son, LeRoy B. Fraser, III, (Scott), and his wife, Svea, and daughter, Carol F. Plesser, and her husband, Buz. She has three granddaughters, Gillian Fraser Moran, Katrin Fraser Katz, and Abigail Plesser. She was also blessed with five great-grandchildren – Gavin, Tylia, Tova, Hannah, and Jacob. A memorial service is planned for the spring of 2015 in Truro. Donations in memory of Harriette can be made to the Alzheimer’s’ Association, at www.alz.org.