Obituary: Violet Marie Frazier

Oct. 25, 1936 ~ Nov. 1, 2021

Violet Marie “Vi” was born Oct. 25, 1936, in Butler, Custer County, Oklahoma, to George Thomas and Ina (Earp) Rushing.  She lived in Oklahoma and Texas until her family left Oklahoma to be a part of the Okie migration to California following the dust bowl and the great depression. The family settled in Weedpatch, California, where they all worked in the fields and on a farm picking and drying fruit to make a living.

They eventually moved up to the Fairfield, California, area where at the age of 12 she met the Frazier family including their son Jack whom she would marry at the age of 18 and spend the next 51 years with until the time of his passing.  

In 1967, after living in several places in California and Wyoming, Jack and Vi (as she was known) moved to Colorado where they would both spend the rest of their lives.  After 20 years of marriage they welcomed their only child Susan, into their lives.  

A wonderful cook and baker, her pies, cornbread, and potato salad were much sought after and requested at family and church functions. An extraordinary seamstress, a love that started at the age of 10 when Violet joined the local 4-H program, she sewed for anyone who needed anything done. She also loved to crochet and made many afghans, bookmarks, and Christmas tree ornaments over the years.  Almost everyone she knew, at one point in their life, she made something for them, something as important as a wedding dress or as simple as a crocheted bookmark. She loved making things for people.

Violet was a stay at home wife and mother until 1980 when the church they attended in Denver started a church school. She volunteered as a teacher in the school for 20-plus years helping to shape the lives of the students that went to Calvary Academy. In addition to teaching in the school she spent many years as a Sunday School teacher. 

A very dedicated and selfless caregiver, Violet took care of her husband Jack for four years until he passed away and her mother for 14 years until she passed. Giving them both her love and attention making their final years as comfortable as she could, never begrudging the fact they needed her help.

In 2013 Violet and her mother Ina, moved to Meeker to join her son-in-law John, daughter Susan, and granddaughters Hailey and Kayla in a new chapter of their lives. Violet spent many Wednesdays up at the Wing, as one of the Wingnuts, crocheting and embroidering tea towels for the annual craft sale to raise money for the Wing, an activity she enjoyed immensely. She also enjoyed meeting with the ladies at the library on Thursdays to just sit and crochet.  

Family meant everything to Vi and she never missed an opportunity to tell everyone that she was related to Wyatt Earp. She loved her in-laws like they were her parents and siblings and treated all her nieces and nephews like they were her own children. Opening her home and her heart to everyone of them whenever they needed a place to stay no matter how long. Her granddaughters were the light of her life and she would tell anyone who would stop long enough to listen about all the activities they were involved in.

Vi passed from this life on Nov. 1, 2021, in Meeker, Rio Blanco, Colorado, and is survived by her son-in-law and daughter John and Susan Scott, granddaughters Hailey and Kayla Scott, brother-in-laws Elchard Frazier and Jack Smith, and sister-in-law Shirley Rushing, eight nieces and six nephews, and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Jack Dorwin Frazier, her parents George Thomas and Ina (Earp) Rushing,  her in-laws Edison Dolphus and Alice Fern (Calkins) Frazier, her brother George Thomas Rushing, Jr., her sister Janell Puryear, and her sisters-in-law Joy (White) Frazier and Patricia (Frazier) Smith.  

A memorial service honoring her life will be held on July 16, 2022, in Meeker, Colorado, at the Fairfield Center at 2 p.m. All who knew and loved Violet are invited to attend. In lieu of flowers or meals, donations can be made to an education fund for Hailey and Kayla Scott through Grant Mortuary.