Michael John Fraser, age 83, passed away at home on October 5, 2019. Mike was born on April 30, 1936, in Nelson, B.C., to James Angus Fraser and Margaret Louise Fraser. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Eleanor Lindsay Fraser; daughter Carmen Fraser and her son Adagio of Grass Valley, CA; and son Mark Fraser, his wife, Angela, and their children, Grace and Jeremy of Tucson, AZ. He is also survived by brothers Dick Fraser (Kitsy) of Surrey, B.C., and Bill Fraser (Linda) of Parksville, B.C.; sister Deborah Hunt (Patrick) of Victoria, B.C.; and cousin, Grover Sinclair (Carol) of Vancouver, B.C.

Mike studied metallurgical engineering at UBC, where he played basketball with the Thunderbirds and was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He worked in the steel industry in Canada, and then the international iron ore, copper, and molybdenum industries with Marcona Corporation, Cyprus Minerals Company, and Performance Associates after moving to the U.S. in 1966.

Mike was a fine pianist: music was his passion. He was active in the Sons of Orpheus, Tucson’s male choir, serving on their board, holding weekly “note bashing” sessions, and contributing numerous musical arrangements to their repertoire. World traveller, avid reader, book collector, and lover of history and literature, Mike was a life-long learner with an impressive encyclopedic memory bank. He was invincible in Trivial Pursuit and crossword puzzles alike. Mike’s enthusiastic, positive outlook and his willingness to help others led him to volunteer building houses for Habitat for Humanity in Tucson. He was a great correspondent and family historian, maintaining connections with family, friends, and colleagues from all phases of his life. Mike had the good fortune of being multi-talented yet remained humble to the core. Mike’s kindness, generosity, and graciousness will be truly missed.