Holyoke, Marian (nee Looney) Frazier, 90, peacefully left this world on January 20, surrounded by love, both from her family and the extended community of the Mont Marie Health Care Center. 

She was born in Cambridge MA in 1925 to Irish immigrants. Her father educated her in the Irish struggle for freedom while her mother taught her the importance of caring for the poor and forgotten.  

She was the eldest daughter among four children who grew to adulthood during the Great Depression. She met and married flyer ace and war hero Gerald R. Frazier. They were blessed with eight children. 

Marian was introduced to the civil rights movement after moving to the deep South as a young bride. It was here where her lifelong commitment to social justice began.

She worked with Dorothy Day of the Catholic Worker Movement, anti-war priests, Phil and Dan Berrigan, and the international peace group, Pax Christi. Marian was a friend of Bill W. which led her to a prison ministry in local jails. She was politically active in the Democratic Party, serving as a local coordinator in John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign.

Her spiritual life was deeply influenced by the Christian monastic, Thomas Merton.  Marian was a faithful parishioner at St. Mary’s of Longmeadow, St. Brigid’s and the Newman Center of Amherst.

She was predeceased by her husband, Gerald and her two sisters, Marjorie Ray Hayes and Patricia Campbell.  She is survived by her brother Richard J. Looney.

She leaves behind her children and their spouses, Michael and Susan of Hadley, Maureen of Longmeadow, Kevin and Angela of York ME, Eileen of Scarborough ME, Gerry and Lisa of Scarborough ME, Daniel of Amherst, John of Amherst and Kathleen and Mark Blakeman of Longmeadow.

She also leaves behind her grandchildren, Sarah, Kathleen, Teresa, Dylan, Grace, John Paul, Trent, Christian Frazier, Mary Kate, Patrick and Meghan Blakeman, and Caitlin Casali.  She leaves two great-grandchildren, Kaiden and Mackenzie.  

Calling hours will be Monday January 25, 2016, from 5-8pm at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst.  A liturgy of Christian burial will be held at Monte Marie, in Holyoke, Tuesday at 11am. Burial will follow at 1:00pm at St. Brigid’s Cemetery, Hadley.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to: 

Sisters of Saint Joseph Retirement Fund, 577 Carew St. Springfield, MA 01104, Doctors Without Borders or The Catholic Worker Movement.