Walter Fraser Obituary

Walter Fraser, Jr. Savannah, GA - Walter Javan Fraser Jr., known to friends as "Jay," died Friday, March 24, 2017, one week after entering hospice care at Spanish Oaks in Savannah, Ga. Fraser was a historian, professor and scholar of the American South whose work often highlighted social and racial inequities that underpinned the history of a complex region he loved deeply. Jay was the author of four books: Patriots, Pistols and Petticoats (Charleston's bicentennial history); Charleston! Charleston!: The History of a Southern Port City; Savannah in the Old South; and Lowcountry Hurricanes. He was the coauthor or coeditor of several additional books, including Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Georgia in the Civil War (with Anne J. Bailey); The Web of Southern Social Relations (ed. with R. Frank Sanders Jr. and Jon L. Wakelyn); and From the Old South to the New (ed. with Winifred B. Moore, Jr.) Jay labored on his last book, "Savannah in the New South: From Reconstruction to the Twenty-first Century", until the very end of a courageous three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. The beautiful Appalachians and the Lowcountry coast were his favorite spots - many cherished family memories include innumerable fishing and crabbing expeditions. A gentleman with a marvelous laugh and a great sense of humor, Jay loved books, news, politics, his standard poodles - Lizzie, Garbo and Clio - good conversation, and sports, especially the Tennessee Volunteers. Fraser was born Sept. 24, 1936 in Norfolk, Va. He received a BA in history from the University of Virginia (1958). He then served his country with Army Security, Europe, in West Germany. After earning an MA in history from East Carolina University, he completed his PhD at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1970. Jay taught at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., for 19 years before becoming professor and chair of the department of history at Georgia Southern University. He retired from Georgia Southern in 2000 and moved to Savannah. Jay was preceded in death by his mother, Louise Wise Fraser; his father, Walter Javan Fraser; and his brother, William Perry Fraser. Jay Fraser is survived by his wife of 37 years, Lynn Wolfe of Savannah. He is also survived by a son, Walter Javan Fraser III, his wife Erin, and their children, Fernanda Smith Fraser, Philippa Wise Fraser, and Walter Javan Fraser IV, all of Bronxville, New York. His youngest son, Thomas Alexander Wise Fraser, lives in Knoxville, as does Jay's first wife, Anna Candler Smith Fraser. Jay Fraser was proud of his Scottish heritage and he epitomized the motto on Clan Fraser's coat of arms, Je suis prest, ("I am ready"), as he departed this world in peace and grace. A memorial service will be held at The Landings Plantation Clubhouse, on Skidaway Island, Ga. at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 1. A reception will follow. Please sign our on-line guest book at www.foxandweeks.com Fox & Weeks Funeral Directors- Hodgson Chapel, Savannah, GA (912) 352-7200 Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston