Donald Lee Fraser

Donald Lee Fraser, 79, of Pampa, died November 16, 2013 in Pampa. Services will be at 2:00 PM Tuesday, November 19, 2013, at Mary Ellen & Harvester Church of Christ with Glen Walton, minister of San Jacinto Church of Christ in Amarillo, and Keith Feerer, minister of Mary Ellen & Harvester Church of Christ, officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery under the direction of Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors. Lee was the grandson of Panhandle pioneers, John and Margaret Fraser, who immigrated from Scotland, and his father, Bill, was the first recorded birth in Gray County. Lee and his twin sister, Linda, were born April 17, 1934 in the Pampa Hospital. Lee attended Pampa schools and graduated from Pampa High School in 1953, where he was active in student government and played Harvester football. He was the recipient of the Fighting Heart Award in 1952. He attended Tarleton State College in Stephenville, Texas, where he was in the ROTC Honor Guard and the Wainwright Rifles. He married his high school sweetheart, Gaye Nell Carter, on September the 2, 1955. Following their graduation from Tarleton, he joined the Wm. T. Fraser & Co. in 1956, and retired from Duncan, Fraser & Bridges in 2012. He was also involved in farming and ranching with his father. He organized the Fraser Development Corporation in 1967 and opened the Meadowlark Hills Addition east of Grape Street. He served in the Texas National Guard for thirteen years. Lee was active in community affairs. He served on the Chamber of Commerce Board, the Top o’ Texas Rodeo Association board, the White Deer Land Museum board, the City Traffic Commission, the Fairview Cemetery Board for forty-four years including several years as president, and a member of the Optimist Club. He received the Jaycees Distinctive Service Award in 1967. He was a Rotarian and lived the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self.” He was president of the Pampa Rotary Club in 1967 and had fifty-one years of perfect attendance and was a Paul Harris Fellow. He was a member of the Mary Ellen and Harvester Church of Christ for fifty years. He was an avid fisherman, and tied many of his own flies and built many of his own fishing rods. He taught his family to enjoy fishing and the wonders of nature. He was preceded in death by his mothers, Lucille Nicholson Fraser in 1936, and Almeda Jarrell Fraser in 1999; his father, William T. Fraser, and by two sisters, Nicki Fraser Lyon and Linda Fraser Chilton, and his beloved Arlena Robinson. Lee is survived by his wife of fifty-eight years, Gaye Nell Carter Fraser; his son, Michael Lee Fraser and wife Dottie and their children Sarah, Andrew and Thomas; his son, David Carter Fraser and wife Lynn and their son, Carter; and his daughter, Elizabeth Jane Fraser Mince and husband Jay, and sons Fraser and William; a brother, William T. Fraser, II and wife Joyce; and many loved nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, please consider memorials to High Plains Children’s Home, 11461 S. Western, Amarillo, TX 79118 or The White Deer Land Museum, P. O. Box 1556, Pampa, TX 79066-1556. The family will receive visitors at 102 W. 18th Avenue.