Charleene Frazier, United Spinal Association’s first on-staff rehab nurse information specialist, passed away surrounded by her family on June 18 at her home in Palmyra, Virginia. She was recruited by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association in 1999 and joined our staff in 2011 when NSCIA merged with United Spinal until her retirement in 2013.
Daniela Castagnino, an information specialist with United’s Resource Center, says, “Charleene Frazier was truly a gem of a human being.” They met while Charleene ran a therapy program for people with spinal cord injuries shortly after Daniela, a quadriplegic, had sustained her injury. Charleene recommended Daniela for a job at NSCIA, and they became fond coworkers.
“Despite the fact that there was a difference of more than 40 years in age between us, we got along right away. Charleene would tell me about her ever-increasing brood of grandchildren, growing up on a California farm ‘in the olden days,’ and her experiences working as a nurse. And I would keep her entertained with my tales about the challenges of traveling and going to concerts as a wheelchair user.”
Born in 1938, Charleene grew up on farms near Greenfield, California, where she learned to drive a tractor at age 6 and earned her share of ribbons from 4H for raising livestock in her teen years. After earning a bachelor’s from the UCLA School of Nursing in 1960 – one of the first institutions to offer that degree in nursing – she worked in medical and surgical wards for the Center for Health Sciences in Los Angeles. In 1964, she earned a master’s in nursing education from her alma mater and began teaching at colleges and universities, including George Mason University Department of Nursing in Fairfax, Virginia.
Her career serving people with spinal cord injuries began in 1989 when she joined the staff of Medical Illness Counseling Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She coordinated MICC’s SCI program, and her pioneering work in electro-stimulation has had a lasting impact on the field, improving the lives of countless individuals.
Going to the Ends of the Earth to Help Wheelchair Users
By the time she joined NSCIA in 1999, Charleene had a wealth of information about SCI, and she generously shared her expertise with callers from all over America and sometimes around the world as well. Retired Resource Center Director Bill Fertig and former NSCIA director Eric Larson recall the lengths she went to find a wheelchair for a caller halfway around the world.
“Charleene would go well out of her way to help people, as evidenced by her efforts to provide a wheelchair to a man in an underdeveloped African country,” says Bill. “She located donated wheelchairs two countries distant from his country, then, over a weeks-long process, helped with logistical details to get that chair to the man in need. Two countries distant. … She was just that dedicated to helping make a difference in the SCI world.”
Bill’s list is much longer than just that one example, but it made an impression on the NSCIA team.
“I remember Charleene’s diligence and perseverance in getting donated wheelchairs and components to a person about as far removed from access to resources as you can imagine,” says Eric. “But what stands out to me about Charleene was that she was one of the calmest, coolest, balanced people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. And she was genuine. She wasn’t out to impress anyone but to do the right thing and help people. For those who know how hard it can be to do the work that Charleene and this team did day in and day out, it would be understandable if you sometimes got frustrated and dropped the ‘F-Bomb.’ But the closest I heard Charleene come to that was when she would, from time to time, let out an exasperated but endearing, ‘Oh, fiddlesticks!’”
Fiddlesticks and Faith
Those fiddlesticks were memorable. “She was the only person I knew who actually uttered old-fashioned but endearing sayings like ‘oh fiddlesticks,’ ‘heavens, to Betsy,’ and ‘fiddle dee dee,’” recalls Daniela.
What made those fiddlesticks so memorable was that Charleene was a woman of faith, a leader in her church, and committed to her family. She genuinely did not have it in her to use harsher words, no matter how exasperating a situation she dealt with was. She was never preachy, but her kindness and good nature were boundless.
Charleene’s beloved husband of 38 years, Doug Frazier, preceded her in death. She is survived by her children: Darlene Frazier (Bob) Riddle, Angela Frazier, Edward (Matthew) Koch II, Marjorie Frazier (Johan) Hogne, Scott (Jennifer) Koch, Stephen (Terri) Koch, and Geoffrey (Dawn) Koch Sr. She is also lovingly remembered by her 18 grandchildren.
A Memorial Service will be held Friday, June 28, 2024, at 1 pm at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, followed by a light reception. In place of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be given to Martha Jefferson Hospital Foundation designated for cancer support services or to Cunningham United Methodist Church designated for its building fund.
A Few of Charleene’s Contributions
See below for a few of Charleene’s contributions to the spinal cord injury community while serving United Spinal:
- Health Insurance Guide
- Educating Nursing Staff about SCI
- Professional, Clinical resources for SCI
- Mitrofanoff bladder procedure Q&A
