Obituary of Robert Smythe Fraser

Robert Smythe Fraser, 89, died peacefully on April 8, 2020 at Founders Ridge Senior Living, Bloomington, Minnesota. He was born December 25, 1930 in Morristown, New Jersey to William (Bill) Fraser and Virginia Conner Smythe. He married Mary (Jane) Coyne on September 14, 1957, in Avon, New York. She preceded him in death (2010), as did his parents and brother, William (Bill) Fraser Skivington (2009). Bob is survived by his children, Anne (Bill) Losby, Hudson, WI; Amy (Joe) Wagner, Bloomington, MN; and Paul (Nancy) Fraser, Orono, MN; seven grandchildren: Julia (Chad) Isakson and Leslie (Frances Tsukano) Losby; Ben, Megan (Michael Trotti), and Sam Wagner; Will and Catherine Fraser; and two great-grandchildren: Jane Isakson and Emma Losby. Sister-in-law Nancy Skivington, niece Erin (Michael) Heuer, nephew David (Christine) Skivington, and cousins Jack and Duncan Smythe also survive. Bob was a 1948 graduate of Caledonia High School in Caledonia, NY. He attended Princeton University for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Army where he served in Stuttgart, West Germany during the Korean War. Bob returned to complete his bachelor's degree at the University of Rochester. Following his marriage to Jane, Bob continued his academic career earning his master's degree and Ph.D in history from Cornell University. Graduate study brought Bob and Jane to the University of Glasgow, Scotland for a year and later to London for dissertation research. Scotland and his Scottish heritage remained very important. Bob initially taught at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. In 1967, Bob and Jane moved their family to Eau Claire, Wisconsin where Bob became a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire. Bob taught British history and founded the course on World War One history. He later became Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. Bob served as president of the University Senate and received the UW-Eau Claire Excellence in Service Award, retiring in 1995. Bob led a life of service: teaching and advising students, serving on numerous faculty committees, and participating in organizations such as the Eau Claire Library Board, the IFLS Public Library System, Golden K Kiwanis, the Genealogical Research Society of Eau Claire, and the Republican Party of Eau Claire County. Bob was humble but thought three things warranted mention in his obituary: he crossed the ocean 20 times by sea (initially on a troop ship and later with Jane aboard the QE2 and QM2); he visited all 26 historic English and Welsh cathedrals; and he saw all the James Bond movies in the theater. We wish to thank the staff at Founders Ridge, Bob's home since 2017, and Optage Hospice for providing skillful and compassionate care. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Bob and Jane Fraser Scholarship for Study in Scotland at the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, P.O. Box 4004, Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004. Services will be held in Eau Claire at a date when people can gather safely, followed by a later interment of ashes in Mumford, NY.