Lois Catterson Frazee
1924-2008
An April 13 memorial service was held for former Gardnerville resident Lois Catterson Frazee, 83, of Coos Bay, Ore. She died April 11, 2008, in Coos Bay.
Born Aug. 12, 1924, in Denver, Colo., to Frehn H. and Sarah (Ginther) Catterson, Mrs. Frazee graduated from Ottawa Public High School, in Ottawa, Ohio, where she was valedictorian in 1942. She attended the University of Manitoba in Winnepeg, Canada, where she earned the Governor General's gold medal, and was awarded an English scholarship as a freshman for having the highest English grades. She also won a tuition scholarship each year for having the highest grades in class. She majored in home economics, with a minor in sciences. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Manitoba in 1946, with a bachelor's degree, she attended the University of Minnesota, where she was a graduate research assistant. She graduated in 1948, and earned a master's degree in foods and nutrition, with a minor in chemistry and related fields.
After completing school, she was an instructor at the University of Minnesota from 1948-49, then moved to California where she was an editor of Sunset Magazine from 1948-50. She worked for a year and a half at Western Regional Research Laboratory in the San Francisco Bay area, where her duties included organoleptic appraisal of foods stored under various temperatures. She did taste test panel work and statistical evaluation of results there.
Mrs. Frazee worked from 1953-56 as acting assistant professor of foods and nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles.
While living there, she belonged to an elite bridge club, playing with the likes of Walt Disney, Omar Sharif, Louis B. Mayer and Phyllis Gates, Rock Hudson's wife. She became a Bronze Life Master in bridge in recent years.
Mrs. Frazee lived in San Jose, Calif., from 1956-1988. Later in life, she moved to El Dorado Hills, Calif., Fernley, and Gardnerville.
When Mrs. Frazee moved to Coos Bay from Gardnerville in August 2007, she quickly joined a bridge club and became a member of Christ Lutheran Church.
Mrs. Frazee was preceded in death by her father, Frehn H. Catterson, and her mother, Sarah Ginther Catterson.
She is survived by her daughter, Jo Rafferty and her companion, Jack Carrerow of Coos Bay; son Bret Frazee, of Orangevale, Calif.; daughter Jane Frazee of Guerneville, Calif.; grandchildren Joshua Frazee of Orangevale, Calif., Patrick Rafferty, currently serving in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii; Jane Frazee of Roseville, Calif., Bryce Rafferty of Reno, and Mitchell Rafferty of Coos Bay; brother Donald Catterson and his wife Sallie Catterson of Palm Desert and Homewood, Calif.; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
A private memorial service will take place at a later date in California.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Douglas County Senior Center, 2300 Meadows Lane, Gardnerville, NV 89410, or Trinity Lutheran Church, 1480 Douglas Ave., Gardnerville, NV 89410.
