Maria Cecilia Fraser

Maria Cecilia (Maureen) Fraser, 78, of Benton Harbor passed away on March 25, 2016 after a brief battle with cancer. Maureen was born on October 20, 1937 to the late Isidor Eugene and Rosa (Punter) Vitoria in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She graduated from Buenos Aires British Hospital School of Nursing and later Lake Michigan College. In January 1962, she travelled to New York and worked at New Rochelle, New York Hospital. It was in New York that she met her husband, Gerald Fraser (Gerry). They were married on December 28, 1963. She was a stay-at-home mother while she and Gerry raised their six children, and later worked at Mercy Hospital and Lakeland in St. Joseph until retirement in 2001. Maureen is survived by her husband, Gerry, and five children, Sean (Mia) Fraser, Neil (Renee) Fraser, Sheelah Fraser, Megan (Kevin) McLoughlin, Liam (Melizza) Fraser, thirteen grandchildren and one granddaughter on the way, her sisters, Vivien, Patricia, Hilda, and Monica, all of Buenos Aires, a sister-in-law, Georgina Griffiths, numerous nieces and nephews, and a close friend, Terry Steffens of Stevensville, who Maureen considered family. She was preceded in death by her son, Kevin E. Fraser in 2002. Mass will be Celebrated 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, 555 E. Delaware Ave., Benton Harbor with Fr. German Perez-Diaz officiating. Friends may visit Monday, March 28, 2016 from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. with prayers recited at 7:30 P.M. at Starks & Menchinger Chapel, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Memorials may be made to Lake Michigan Catholic Schools. Those wishing to share a memory of Maureen online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com