Dan Frazee Sr. - I sure will miss you!

Daniel Boyd Frazee Sr.

11/2/1955 - 1/31/2012

We are here today to celebrate the life of Daniel Boyd Frazee Sr. or you may know him as “Danny” “Dan” or “Worshipful Brother Dan”. 

He is survived by:

He has an amazing wife, Brenda K Frazee.

Two children, Myself or “Katie” Frazee, Daniel Boyd Frazee II or  “Danny”  (Kathrin) & 

Three grandchildren- Danielle, JD or Justin Daniel, Livia

A step mom – Fran Frazee

A sister & Brother in law – Mikl & Rob Gabbard

Neice & Nephew –Sammy & Mattman

And all of you…

Daddy was very unique and incredibly onry. The biggest kid anyone ever knew and he loved every minute of it. Anyone who knew him either loved him to death or hated him immediately. There was never a middle ground. The words expressed today will never truly tell his story.

When my dad was little he talked about how neat it was that he grew up in Bethel and wondered around to all the shops and stores. That everyone knew him personally even as a small child, looked out for him & gave him treats and snacks calling him Danny Boy. He loved that. Looking back at his teenage years he still laughed when he thought about how he’d overturned Mr. Childer’s desk one day at school and now he buys guns off of him at the pawnshop. He established quite a reputation as youth and shared his stories with us our whole life.

He was skilled at every trade and could fix anything.  If it weren’t working right he put every bit of his energy into learning how to fix it and then did.  His primary trade in his youth was being an electrician and whether you know it or not, if you live nearby he probably wired your house.  He probably also showed you a film at the drive inn when you were younger.

When we were growing up, his most favorite days were spent with his family.  He loved rolls from Texas Road House, watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Christmas, any western, and his favorite movies included Wild America, Easy Riders & True Grit. He loved watching the Bengal & playing with his pets all 6 of which he recued from various situation.

He loved spending man time with Danny…coon hunting, deer hunting, riding quads, riding motorcycles, it didn’t matter as long as Danny was there to hand him tools & play the world was a great place to be. When he went into the Army Dad was so proud & so scared. 

For me, some of our best days were spent laughing and cracking jokes, car rides, pranks, errands, new adventures, inventions and helping him work with the animals.  He would tell people that I am nothing more than a female version of him with a filter on my mouth.  He and I always talked and dreamed about getting a plane and flying together. Last year, his friend Rick took him up and he got a chance to live out that dream and fly. He was a natural. Since then, he’s been selling off the toys he doesn’t use so we could get a plane. I had the privilege of being Daddy’s little girl and I will miss everything about him.  Especially when one of us were leaving to go somewhere he’d look at me and say, “You’re my girl!” with his eye brows raised and an anticipating smile and I would always say, “you’re my DAD!” and we’d both laugh and go on.

The Friday before the accident, Carmen took dad to see the Arena to see Urban Cowboys and he loved every minute of it sitting on the edge of his seat clapping his hands with every trick and stunt.

He was an eight year old with a license, toys, a reputation & always a gun. He and Mom loved every minute of it. They worked hard and played hard… hunting, boating, tinkering, woodcarving, riding, living and laughing. Dad called mom about every 20 minutes to tell her what was happening or what he just did to whom.

Getting to know his grandchildren has been one of his deepest desires and joys.

The last six years, he has been a mason and being a mason became one of his primary identies. We even have a mason symbol that he pressure washed on the side walk in front of our house.  He became a Mason, then a Shriner, then an Eastern Star, then a Scottish Rite and one of his most enjoyable extensions of the Mason’s was the Widows Sons Mason motorcycle club.  Just last month he said with his deep loud laugh, “when I die I should will my ashes to the lodge so they have to take care of my ass forever…knowing I was looking over them.”  He always had something to say about the Masons.

Most of you will miss his jokes, his pranks, his stories, his parade floats, or when he had commentary about something and tried to whisper it but you couldn’t help but hear it all the way across the room and laugh with him. No matter what he did to you … you could never stay mad at him because he was so busy laughing at you that you couldn’t help but laugh too. He always gave people way more chances than anyone ever really deserves. And boy are we going to miss him.

Something that wouldn’t serve you justice if I didn’t share was the simple conversation I had with my dad on Saturday.  He’d just come excited from picking up Jimmy’s new bike and when he calmed down he sat down and took off his shirt and said, “Hey Katie, see this G” pointing to the letter on his chest.  He smiled with a warm and sincere smile and said “that stands for God.”  And at that moment I knew that he owned his relationship with God. Before that it was always more of a group or corporate feel but at that moment it was personal.  It wasn’t flashy or showy; it didn’t fit into a structure or a box.  It was his relationship with God showing through in a simple, humble way.

I have 4 things I want to leave you with tonight that honor my father.

The first is to reconcile your families and put the pettiness behind you.  It’s just not worth it, you might not get a tomorrow to reconcile. I thought for sure that I had at least 10 more years with my dad but you just don’t know from day to day if you or someone else will be around tomorrow.

The second is to honor your elders and to take care of those who need taken care of regardless of who they are. That was on Dad’s heart especially the last couple years.

And the third, even what the mason’s said during their service. “What good is this if not a good time for reflection.” This is a good time to figure out where your relationship is with God. You don’t know if you get a tomorrow or a next 30 seconds. So if you aren’t 100% that you are going to heaven this is a REALLY good time to figure it out. For Dad he’d talked about God corporately and attached to the masons but on Saturday when pointed at his chest he owned it, the relationship with God was his and I know right now He’d want you to be taking the time to figure it out.

And the fourth live your life and laugh often. I couldn’t help but smile the other night thinking back over my daddy’s life but… he was killed in a car wreck as a teenager and he survived, his boat exploded and he survived, he was shot and drove away, he was in a ton of fights, a million other things happened to him… and really… It took a fully loaded cement truck to take him out.

Daddy, I’ll miss you being Mcgyver. I’m going to miss watching you polish your bike and smile as you ride off.  I’ll really really miss listening to you playing your guitars, harmonicas, banjo, mandolin, ukulele & fiddle for us every night before bed.  You were the best dad in the whole world and I can’t wait to see you again. Have fun up there, we’ll see you soon. I’m glad you got to go out with your boots on.

(Prayer)