Deep sorrow: Mr. Frazee has passed away

I learned of the passing of Mr. Terry Frazee on Friday afternoon (yesterday)...it was the equivalent of a kick in the stomach. It is deeply sad news. He passed away at his "snowbird" home in Dundee, Florida, on March 21.

In his retirement after his Brooten/B-B-E years, he and his amazing wife, Kathryn, lived on Green Lake in rural Spicer. He always kept in touch with the B-B-E community. He really cherished his years as the Brooten school district superintendent.

Since I heard the news, I've been "off" my game and burdened with great sorrow. I have had a handful of conversations with him in my time owning the newspaper, but I never took the time to get him on the phone and do a good, lengthy interview. I will always regret that. It was on my Summer 2021 bucket list...but it was not meant to be. His obituary will be in the April 8 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice. You can also bet your bottom dollar that I'll have a tribute story about him in a future issue.

Mr. Frazee was first a science teacher before moving into the administrative ranks of education in the 1970s. He was hired by the Brooten school board as superintendent in 1980. He was leader of the Brooten school district during what can certainly be considered "very hard times" as the farm recession ravaged rural America in the mid-1980s. Frazee loved the school and the community, and he especially loved Brooten's students and teachers. In August 1989, Frazee took the role of B-B-E senior high school principal in Brooten, leading grades 10-12 at the senior high building in Brooten. He held that position for five years, and he was the B-B-E grades 7-12 principal at the newly-remodeled high school in Belgrade in 1994-1995. That was my junior year at B-B-E, and he was an integral part of the rich, wonderful memories I have as a B-B-E student. He was one of countless staff members at B-B-E who consistently showed me over and over again that they deeply cared about me and my future.

I mentioned Mr. Frazee in a May 2008 blog post on this Jaguar blog...you can read it here, and he is included in the final paragraph (short link) https://bit.ly/3fL8LN7.

He will be greatly missed.

God bless his memory.