Another family-icon-filled picture!

Helen Rex Frazier pictured some of her favorite things--family icons--in this snapshot.

Her youngest daughter, Susan, is modeling great great grandmother Elizabeth Thompson Groesbeck's burgundy with black trim wrapper. Elizabeth's delicate lacy black shawl drapes from Susan's shoulders down to about knee height. She is also wearing Elizabeth's beautiful hand crafted black straw bonnet.

Susan is standing in  Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier's 1970's T.V. room at their 166 East Oakland Avenue, Salt Lake City, Utah home.

The fancy side chair behind her to the left came from the Nicholas and Elizabeth Groesbeck home and was part of the family's 1860's dining room set.

The short wood turned lamp to Susan's right was made for Helen by her younger brother John Morgan  (1920-1941).

Memorial Day 2016!

It would have been hard to imagine then (picture from late 1970's) what feasting my eyes upon these familiar family icons would mean today.

Memorial Day is for remembering!

Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier's two-story green stucco home at 166 East Oakland Avenue, Salt Lake, Utah.

Susan Frazier's blue Volkswagon bug. The one she drove from Salt Lake to Washington DC when she moved there in September, 1983.

Glenn Frazier's green Chevy truck that served him so well for so long. Clear up to July 4, 1992.

Glenn and Helen's mobile home.

The quiet street our family lived on and all of the wonderful people who came and went from here.

Susan Frazier (1951-2006) Loved Music!

1958 seven-year-old Susan Frazier with the family pet, Rebel.

Susan played the bass fiddle as a 6th grader, and on through

 junior high school. She also learned to play the piano.

Susan was a good record keeper and recorded each of her friends' names.

She was also a faithful journal keeper.

A song is a wonderful kind of thing,

So lift up your voice and sing!

Just start a glad song, let it float, let it ring,

And lift up your voice and sing!

We shall make music to brighten the day;

Music will help us to lighten the way.

Lift up your voice! Lift up your voice!

Lift up your voice and sing!

Children’s Songbook 252

Words and music: Richard C. Berg, b. 1911

D & C 25:12 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with blessings upon their heads.

13: Wherefore, lift up thy heart and rejoice, and cleave unto the covenants which thou hast made.

A few of Susan's journal entries:

December 26, 1976  [a resolution] — "Memorize and sing songs while I’m driving. Scriptures, too"

March 27, 1977— “A lot has happened in the last 2 months. I really enjoy 306 [Nursing course] now. Dr. Hames is a great teacher. He teases me about being a Mormon, since he’s only been here 3 months from Michigan. I’ve learned so much in the last 2 months it’s incredible.

“State Board results should be coming some time now—I hope I passed!

A week ago we went up to Flora Lee’s homecoming, when we received word that Grandpa Rex passed away. When Aunt Flora came in to tell Aunt Marry, I knew what she was going to say. We will miss him but I think it’s wonderful that he can be with Grandma Rex (after 39 yrs.), Uncle Morgan, and his 12 brothers and sisters. His services were lovely! The granddaughters sang “The Lord is My Shepherd” and “Abide With Me.” Richard Lamborn and I played “Oh My Father” on the piano and organ. Richard is really a special cousin to me. Even though we tease each other miserably, I really love him!” [1]

Susan loved music! She loved to play it on the piano, on her bass fiddle, and accompany others perform. She listened to it always and collected it. She sang solos, duets, in quartets and always belonged to a choir. As a teenager she participated in roadshows. In junior and high school she was part of all of the musical productions. She and her friends, Pam, and Debbie, and Debby formed a quartet. In the style of Peter, Paul, and Mary and The Carpenters and they sang the music of their day—I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane —Rainy Days and Mondays Always get me Down—they harmonized beautifully.

The summer following her high school graduation (about 1969-70) Susan worked in Commissioner Garn’s office during the day “and performed in Promised Valley at night. That was a great experience with Nancy and Pam." [2]

At her passing I gave much of her music to those who could use it. A walk through what remains in her music file is heart warming:

Prayer of the Children

I am a Child of God

I Know that My Redeemer Lives

God Bless America

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Jesus Loves Me

Let us Break Bread Together

There is a Balm in Gilead

Peace, Peace

A Child’s Prayer

A Poor Wayfaring Man of Greif

As The Dew

As Sisters in Zion & We’ll Bring the World His Truth

I got Shoes (spiritual)

Joseph Knew (for mixed chorus)

How Beautiful

You’re Not Alone

Pachelbel’s’ Canon

Precious Lord Take My Hand

These Are the Days

Oh My Father

In Perfect Faith

O Come O Come Emanuel

Shine for Me Again

Star of Bethlehem

Ding Dong Merrily on High

Oh, Hush Thee My Baby

How Beautiful

Infant Holy Infant Lowly

On December 16, 2006 a memorial service was held for Susan in the Chevy Chase Ward, Bethesda, Maryland. The following note was left in her guest book.

"Susan, I remember many beautiful days of picnics under the azaleas with the young women at the Arboretum, and walks by daffodils and cherry blossoms. I remember baking apple pies with fresh picked apples in our kitchen with all the young women and you, who appreciated the good things of life. Many choirs and solos and duets we have done together, and talent shows at the Mt. Pleasant Branch. Your sense of humor, your wry observations, and your sensitivity to the Spirit always reminded me why we are really here on this earth. I love you and I will carry on, following in your footsteps, and always singing those beautiful hymns you loved. You will be a part of my music forever. Thank you for being a part of my life! Love, Natassya"  [3]

(to be continued) From time to time I will post parts of Susan's life story here.

Notes: 1. Histories of Percy Harold Rex, Bessie Morgan Rex, Mary Elizabeth Herbert Rex and Their Descendants, 2014, pg 162.
2. Ibid 156
3. Ibid 182

Helen and Susan Frazier. Mother and Daughter.

Susan's early RESOLUTIONS!

Continued from here.

Susan Frazier was a great goal setter. She is pictured here May 24, 1989 with good friend Finnette Walker Shupe and mother Mrs. Walker upon completion of Susan's masters degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.

From Susan's journal: Her twenty-five-year-old goal list follows,

1976--I’ll list my goals. I have from attending Education Week:

1. Memorize Articles of Faith
2. Attend Temple weekly
3. Attend genealogy library weekly
4. Have good thoughts
5. Don’t gossip

Goals

My Reading Goal List:

1976—New Testament Commentary ( first 4,000 years)

1977 Church History--comprehensive

1978 Journal of Discourses

Others: Gospel Doctrine

Doctrines of Salvation

James R. Clark’s collection

Josephus

Biographies: Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow. Heber c. Kimball

I need to get a list of classics I want to read.

My next 5 years

(25) 1976-77    256-356

(26) 1977-78   406-456 work-ICU

(27) 1978-79   ICU-Israel

(28) 1979-80   Guatemala

(29) 1980-81   India 

1976--The day after Christmas—yesterday I worked but we had a nice party and then we watched Camelot. I’ve been thinking about my goals for 1977. two of them will be:

1)      Standard works

2)      Documentary History

3)      Comprehensive History

4)      Memorize and sing songs while I’m driving. Scriptures, too

5)      Mon. genealogy

6)      Thurs. – Temple

I really enjoy working as a GN. I hope I pass my state boards!!

1977--Well here goes with my 1977 resolutions: (I don’t want school to start again, oh well …)

1. Read Standards works, DHC, CHC
2. Temple - Thursday night
3. Genealogy – Monday morning
4. Perfect thoughts (pray continually)
5. Memorize songs, hymns, scriptures
6. Missionary emphasis
7. Charity, service
8. Weekly journal set goal entries 

1977--Goals Spring Summer

1. Daily (morn-night) communication
2. daily scripture reading
3. weekly [bi-weekly added] genealogy, temple, exercise (bike x1, spa x3, walk x3)
4. Daily novel reading
5. Weekly journal writing
6. Weekly charity (letter, visit, Janet, nieces)
7. Weekly evaluation 

Perfect in

1. physical fitness
2. appetite
3. dance
4. thought control
5. early rising-scripture reading 

1978 worked in Monument Valley as registered nurse

1979 studied abroad in Israel

I think I should make some goals for my stay here:

1)  Come to know Christ better

2)  Finish Old Testament

3)  Good thoughts

4)  Deeds of Service daily

5) Control of appetite

a) swim daily

b) no bread or potatoes, milkshakes or ice cream

6) Finding out Lord’s will in my life 

Picture of Susan holding niece Natalie at Lava Hot Springs family reunion 2001.

ACTION! Susan Frazier, resolutions and reflections.

Susan Frazier (1951-2006) hiked the Zion, Utah Narrows 

at Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier Family Reunion in 2001

Susan and Finnette Walker Shupe (1947-2014), in the red,

 seated with unidentified friends in the Bethesda,

Maryland condo they shared in about 1984.

Susan with visiting niece and nephews on condo patio in about 1986.

A Salt Lake visit with nieces and nephews about 1985.

Note:  Scroll down on the Susan Frazier link to read her obituary.

Susan's Birthday!

Susan Frazier

October 20, 1951 - November 26, 2006

Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier, Part 7

166 East Oakland Avenue, Salt Lake City, Utah, Glenn's truck, trailer, and Susan’s blue Volkswagen.

Glenn and Helen’s Salt Lake home was always a crossroads, for friends and family traveling to or from a mission, school, vacation, or city shopping. There was always a welcome bed for a night, a week, or a school term.

1961 Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier, Sharon G. (seated), Inge B., Susan Frazier, Bessie and Richard Sanborn, Suzanne S. (in front) James Sanborn, Beryl Sanborn, Sherlyn N. (seated), and Pete Sanborn.

This happy occasion in 1961 is the only family picture from these years. Glenn and Helen’s son, Rex, is missing because he was in the Army Reserves at Fort Ord, California at the time of his sister’s wedding. After his Army service, Rex served a mission to Scotland, and earned his CPA from the University of Utah.

There daughter, Susan, interupted nurse's training to serve a mission to Italy in 1974. April 21, 1978 she received a degree in nursing from Brigham Young University Nurses College . The following year Susan went on a B.Y.U. study abroad to the Jerusalem Center. In the early 1980’s she moved to Bethesda, Maryland where she made her home for the next twenty-five years.

This picture of Helen with two of her fourteen grandchildren was taken in about 1976. She had a very slow healing ulcer on her ankle at the time. It didn’t slow her grand-mothering down. She was ever involved with each of her grandchildren. She and Glenn attended every birthday, baptism, confirmation, sealing, ordination, and special occasion possible. Their children and grandchildren brought Glenn and Helen great pleasure, and were always welcome at their home.

March 19, 1973 Helen R. Frazier became a member of the National Society of Daughters of Utah Pioneers (DUP), South Center County Company, Camp Lockwood, Salt Lake City, Member No. 44179. She was their lesson leader, and enjoyed sharing the stories and notes of interest learned from her lessons with her family.

Helen was an avid genealogist and purchased a typewriter with a legal sized carriage. She recorded all of the data she and other family members gathered on pedigree and family group sheets, and submitted them for temple work. She gathered pictures and stories and constructed Books of Remembrance. Glenn shared Helen’s interest in family history, and was her constant help. Together they published a monthly Stephen Vestal Frazier family newsletter in the 1970’s.

As a grandmother, Helen was called to teach the Mother Education lessons in her Relief Society. Helen dealt with asthma as a girl and throughout her life. Her health continued to be compromised as she developed emphysema and rheumatoid arthritis. Despite a life threatening illness and five-month hospital stay in 1978, she seldom complained.

Glenn and Helen pulled their trailer behind Glenn’s truck and traveled to various family and senior spots; Lava Hot Springs, Mesquite, Nevada, Death Valley, California, places where there was dry desert air, and hot springs to soak in.

In 1980 Glenn and. Helen flew for the first time. Helen’s health and limited mobility, coupled with Glenn’s reluctance to fly, didn’t deter them. Their daughter’s family would be visiting Nauvoo, Illinois that summer, and insisted they meet them there. Ever since the June 1978 dedication of the Relief Society’s Monument to Women statuary park in Nauvoo, Helen had wanted to visit Nauvoo.

Helen with daughter Bessie, and granddaughters L-R Melinda, Andrea, and Evette.

Glenn and Helen flew to St. Louis, Missouri. Helen recorded: “… 1980, June 13 we started a very wonderful trip. We left Salt Lake City on American Air lines at 1:30 p.m. and flew to St. Louis, Mo. We had never flown and was that a thrill. We (family) had been concerned whether Glenn would enjoy it because he said he would never get off the ground. St. Louis was a thrill to see because my great grandfather & grandmother Rex [William and Mary Mead Rex] came to there from England. They were converted to Mormonism in England. Grandfather [William] Rex grew up in St. Louis & finally was able to come onto Utah with his mother when a young man. We stayed at a Holiday Inn. Bessie called that evening & said they were having some car trouble, but would get us in the morning. That evening I called a telephone no. listed in St. Louis under the name Chester Rex. His wife told me he had passed away just a year ago. I talked with her for some time, and learned there are no more Rexes in St. Louis.

“We had a lovely dinner at the hotel and the next morning Bessie & Richard came for us. It was so much fun to be with them in their car. (VW Van) It is so roomy. Melinda & Dustin took turns sitting by me & I loved it. Also the older girls. We went to Hannibal, Quincy and on up the Mississippi River to Nauvoo. …We got (had reserved) a Motel in the Nauvoo State Park – Village inn. Rested a bit and then went to dinner. … they came for us & we went to the visitors Center & the homes of the early Church members – site of the Nauvoo Temple. A wonderful experience. The Women’s monuments in the garden at the visitors center are wonderful to see. Then we drove over to Carthage. … we drove across the Mississippi River through the corner of Iowa and across Missouri to Liberty. Liberty Jail is a very touching place. … the next day flew home. …What a sight to look down at the earth and see the fields of grain in Kansas and Colorado and then to see the river, reservoirs & roads. Then to fly over Denver and see the homes, city streets – I shall never forget it all and always be grateful for that wonderful experience.”
Helen’s health was precarious. All of that fun put her in the hospital for a week. Her only regret was not being able to travel to Randolph for the Rex family reunion on the 28th. Glenn was a patient caring companion to Helen throughout the remainder of their lives together. Helen suffered a heart attack June 26, 1982 while at her doctor’s office. Glenn buried his wife, Helen, June 29, 1982.

Grandchildren Melinda, Jason, Bonnie, Dustin and daughter Susan Frazier visiting in the right corner.

(To be continued.)
From Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier collection.

Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier, Part 6

Helen Rex Frazier and daughter Susan, Spring 1952.

In 1951 Glenn began driving truck out of Provo, Utah. He moved his family into a little brick home at 657 West 5th North in Provo. Their youngest child, Susan, was born October 20, 1951 in the hospital in Provo.

Susan and Bessie, Provo, Utah, Spring 1952.

Helen, on the right, with sisters-in-law L-R, Verla Madsen Frazier and Dorothy Tipton Rex. A backyard Sunday picnic, Provo, Spring 1952.

Work moved Glenn and family to Salt Lake City, Utah where they first lived on 3rd West, and then moved to 134 East Oakland Avenue. A couple of years later Glenn and Helen were able to begin buying the home at 166 East Oakland Avenue. They lived their the rest of their lives.

Glenn worked construction and drove a cement truck for J.B. and R.E. Walker for many years. He always drove a truck. Even after retirement when he helped his son fix up and manage rental units, Glenn drove a truck.

Helen was a fine homemaker. She baked, cooked, canned, and was a lovely seamstress, teaching her daughters to sew as girls. The family attended the Kimball Ward, in the South Salt Lake Stake. Helen was the stake Junior Sunday School Coordinator, and Glenn was called as a missionary in those early years. In about 1955 Helen began working in an assayer’s office, then for the City of South Salt Lake. The city offices were on State Street, just south of the Oakland Avenue corner, a block’s walk away from home. She would work there for seventeen years; as the water billing clerk, in most other city related work, and serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission.

For just short of forty years the Fraziers lived on Oakland Avenue in South Salt Lake, Utah. The children attended Madison Elementary School, across the street, on Oakland Avenue and State Street, Central Junior High School, and they each graduated from Granite High School. Glenn and Helen were always involved in their children’s lives, the Church, and the South Salt Lake Community.

Family, reunions, and gatherings were anticipated with great excitement. Over the river and through the words, applied to every holiday, as they traveled. Whether Woodruff, Randolph, Huntsville, or Marion, Utah, they ever sang the lyrics of that song and other favorites on their treks.

Through the annals of frequently recalled family stories, the following account is a favorite: Soon after the family moved to 134 East Oakland in about 1955, Helen had taken Susan with her as she drove to pick Glenn up after work. It was a new neighborhood, but Helen was comfortable leaving Rex and Bessie (ten and eleven) home alone, and instructed them to stay inside. Sometime after their mother left they heard a sound they had NEVER heard before. The loud wail of an unfamiliar siren penetrated the air. It reached through the walls and windows of their little two bedroom home and paralyzed them. But, not for long. It was such a persistent, urgent call, they determined it must be a blackout siren. They had never heard one before. But it fit the description of the sirens their parents told them of, calling for blackouts, in Oakland, California after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941.

They knew what to do. They closed all of the blinds and curtains they could, and hid, huddled together in the center of the house. They worried. This house didn’t have blackout curtains. After a long time the siren stopped. And they waited longer. When nothing happened, they snuck to a window and peaked out. Nothing seemed changed, the people and cars they could see appeared normal. They cautiously awaited until their parents returned home.

They had moved into a community with a volunteer fire department, and had heard the siren for the first time. The fire station was part of the City Complex on the corner of Oakland Avenue and State Street. They became well acquainted with that siren’s call, it becoming a reassuring sign that help was being summoned for someone in need.

Madison Ward Bishopric, about 1961. Front row L-R, Counselor Brother Christensen, Bishop Frank Fox, and Counselor Glenn Frazier. Others unknown.

In the 1960’s Glenn served as a counselor to Bishop Frank Fox in the Madison Ward Bishopric. Glenn served in seven bishoprics, usually as the ward clerk. During the years they lived on Oakland Avenue they watched commercial enterprises slowly encroach their community. It began with the construction of Interstate, I-80 a block and a half north of their house in about 1960. They attended the Kimball, Madison, Burton, and Central Park Ward, and two different stakes, without ever moving from Oakland Avenue.

Helen is on the top row, far right. The other women are unknown.

(To be continued.)

Pictures and history from Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier collection.

Susan Frazier (October 20, 1951 - November 26, 2006)

Glenn and Helen Rex Frazier with daughter Susan. Helen is holding granddaughter, Evette, 1969, about the time Susan wrote the following.

Autobiography of Susan Frazier from her Book of Remembrance. Written about 1969.

It was the start of the deer hunting season. Dr. Webster, my mom’s obstetrician, and my father, Glenn Frazier, were both deer hunting, so my mom and I decided to do everything by ourselves. I was born [October 20, 1951] in the hallway on the way to the delivery room at the Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah. I’ve been very independent ever since! We went home to a very proud father and an excited brother and sister, Glenn Rex and Bessie Lynne. There is one year and one week exactly between my brother and sister and then nine years later I come along. Besides being independent, I’m very spoiled, due to the fact that I had loving parents and a brother and sister that spoiled me. At one month, my mother [Helen Rex Frazier] and I went to visit the doctor. After listening to my heart, he about fell through the floor. “That wasn’t there at birth,” he exclaimed. My poor mother was also about to fall through the floor, when he told her. I had a ventricular septal defect. At age ten, I went to a heart specialist. He wanted me to have open-heart surgery and because heart surgery was not very specialized in Salt Lake he wanted me to go the Mayo Clinic at Minnesota. This came as quite a shock to my parents. My father sent my name into the prayer circle at the Salt Lake Temple. After many tests, it was decided that I did not need the operation. I truthfully believe that it was through the power of prayer that I did not have to go.

My mother is from a small farm town in northern Utah. Her father’s family is pure pioneer stock from the country and her mother’s family is pure pioneer stock from the city. I never had the privilege of meeting my mother’s mother (Grandma [Bessie Morgan] Rex) in this life. She was a great lady and I’ll be very happy to meet her on the other side. My Grandpa [Percy Harold] Rex is a man of very strong character. At the present, he is my only living grandparent. His fine posterity shows the good life he has lived. He married a very sweet woman after my Grandma Rex died, Aunt Mary. She is always making something with her hands when I see her. I’ll never forget when my cousin, Flora Lee, and I used to play Russian spies and wear her hats and shoes. Ten miles from my mom’s small town is my dad’s small farm town. His mother [Emily Rufi] was from Salt Lake but went to live in Woodruff (name of small town) when she got married. My grandfather [Frank Union Frazier] was never a member of the Church, but he always allowed my grandmother to take the kids to church. His father [Stephen Vestal Frazier] was one of the first settlers in that valley. Because he was not a Mormon the early members of the church were not too hospitable, so he told all of his children NEVER to join the church. A father’s advice and counsel were upheld in that day because none of his children ever did join. I don’t remember my Grandpa Frazier but I’m very excited to see him because I’ve been told he’s a very generous and kind man. He always helped his neighbors (whether they were Mormons or not) and I’m sure He’s very happy now since my brother has been baptized for him. I’m very grateful to my Grandma Frazier because it was through her endurance and faith that kept religion in the home. She died when I was twenty and I’ll never forget the fine example and good life she led. I had the honor and blessing to play an organ solo at her funeral. She was a fine lady in everything she did. I love and miss her very much.

My mother was the very serious, quiet type. My father was the big athlete-stud, Casanova. I don’t see how they ever got together. I’ll never forget the story, my father always tells us kids, when my mother went to a dance with her father. My dad asked her to dance and then asked if he could take her home. Her reply was “I’ll go home with the one that brought me!” She was quite prim and proper besides serious. She became the first queen of the fair and rodeo because my dad bought all her penny votes for queen. They were married during the depression when my father was working in California. My mother went down to Oakland and they were married. One year later, they went through the temple when they came up for my grandmother’s (mother’s mother) funeral. They went back to California where my brother and sister were born. After living there for approximately seven years they came back to ‘Zion’ where I was born. We lived in Provo for a couple of years and then moved to Salt Lake where we’ve lived ever since. We all attended Madison Elementary, Central Junior and Granite High Schools. Fifth grade was my year! I won the hopscotch tournament for the fifth grade, got the only “A” in history and was on the championship times-tables team. In Junior High Vicky Comes and I became life long friends. We shared our seventh grade locker together. The locker was three feet high, nine inches wide and one foot deep. We fit all our books, two pairs of boots, two coats, one umbrella and two briefcases in. It was quite a squeeze! I’ll never forget those briefcases. (We looked like the seventh grade geniuses with our cases.) Vickie Page, (now Smith), Vicky Comes (now Hodgson) and I were the only students in the seventh grade with briefcases. I was on the honor roll and was one of thirteen key scholars in ninth grade. I played Cinderella’s ugly step sister in the school play. Vickie Page and I were on the school police for CE and I was the secretary for the Seminary. In high school I was in the pep club, madrigals, concert choir and symphony debs.

In the early days, I remember my brother and sister use to fight a little. She used to chase him out of the house and then she and I would stay inside while he stayed outside and tried to come back inside. I always thought this was such fun! I have some of the choicest spirits for a family. My parents have taught me by example and with love. Besides being my parents I consider them two of my most closest friends. My brother is a spiritual, financial and personality giant. My sister is a psychologist, writer, antique collector, upholsterer and gardener (plus too many other things to write down.) I really don’t understand how I fit into this family, but I do!
Picture and Susan Frazier Book of Remembrance in my possession.