Godspeed, Joe Fraysier: 1940-2022
I will miss the HCP office visits by Joe Fraysier.
Joe passed away Aug. 25 at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. He was 82.
Joe and I met many years ago. We had a nice conversation. We did not talk about politics, just some issues regarding Highland District Hospital, where Joe was a member of the HDH Board of Governors.
It was a year or two later that I learned – perhaps from Bill Horne – that Joe was prominent in the Highland County Democratic Party. For some unexplainable reason, that just struck me as odd. With all due respect to my friends in both political parties, Joe – like Bill – simply made sense when he spoke. And that great laugh – with maybe just a bit of tobacco juice exposed. Joe had a sense of humor and a way of making others join in the laughter.
"Joe Fraysier was a true public servant," Highland County Democratic Party Chair Dinah Phillips said. "He served for many years as a township trustee in Union Township, plowing snow, cutting trees off the roadway, ditching and many other duties which most townships hire to be done. Joe performed these duties himself.
"Joe dedicated many hours and over 40 years of service, to the Highland District Hospital Board of Governors and was on the Building and Grounds Committee during the expansion of the HDH facilities. Joe also was the longest-serving member of the Highland County Democratic Party's Executive and Central Committees. Joe was instrumental in electing many Democrat candidates over the years.
"His smile, his sunny personality and his infectious laugh will be missed by all who knew him. Our sincere sympathy goes out to Mary and his children."
Thank you, Dinah, for those wonderful words of compassion and respect for Joe.
According to his obituary from the Turner & Son Funeral Home, Joe proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy for four years. He enjoyed farming his entire life. He was a member of the Highland Masonic Lodge 38, a member of the Highland District Hospital Board of Governors for 40 years, a 38-year member of the Lynchburg Area Joint Fire and Ambulance District Board of Trustees, and he was a Highland County Union Township trustee for 40 years.
Joe was very concerned about fire and ambulance services for the residents of Union Township and all of Highland County. He pushed for a substation in Pricetown, and he always stayed informed of the local negotiations for fire and emergency medical services.
Joe also wasn't afraid to speak on state issues regarding Ohio's biennial budgets and their impact on local townships.
In 2013, Joe joined Highland County Township Association President Tim Sheeley, Union Township Trustee Nathan Brown and Highland County Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer as they attended the Ohio Township Association office in Blacklick in Franklin County to discuss what the effects from the state budget under former Gov. John Kasich could be on local townships.
Around that same time period, Joe often came into our newspaper office and weighed in on issues related to the ongoing discussions for fire and EMS services. Joe never – not once – brought up partisan politics with me. We just discussed the issues and shared our opinions. I always respected that.
Joe was, indeed, a good man and a great public servant. Godspeed.
The Turner & Son Funeral Home is serving the family. For more, visit https://www.turnerfuneralhomes.cc/
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.