Henry Bernard "Harry" Fraser

Today we celebrate the life of Henry Bernard Fraser, known to everyone as Harry. He died on June 16, 2026, in Sudbury, Ontario, at the age of 83. His wife, Rosalind, was at his side to the end.

It was not lost on his family that he stubbornly waited until the hockey playoffs were over before leaving us. Anyone who knew him certainly knew better than to interrupt him in his recliner during the playoffs. One son admits to calling during a rare Toronto Maple Leafs playoff run, just to test the theory, and was met with an expletive and a dial tone.

Harry was born on April 6, 1943, in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, to Jack and Alfreda Fraser, in a province that asks much of its people and rewards them with character and strong convictions.

In 1971, he and Rosalind moved to Sudbury to raise their family. He worked as an underground miner at Falconbridge Nickel Mines for 30 years. He was active in the union through the decades, through many strikes and even later as a pensioner.

Harry was old school. He kept a flip phone he barely understood and refused, on principle, a GPS, a stand that produced some memorable adventures in Southern Ontario where adult grandchildren had to drive out and rescue him and Rosalind. He bore it all with dignity and a sense of humour. No machine was going to tell Harry Fraser where to turn. He was happiest wandering the shoreline of a small brook, fishing rod in hand, or sharing a beer or a wee dram of scotch with his boys, who decided years ago that Dad couldn’t have rum anymore (that’s another story for another time).

Beneath the dry humour and the well-practised mischief was a man who loved his family and provided for it in the only way he knew, steadily and without announcement. In his day he loved nothing better than breaking out the guitar and strumming a tune with a grandchild on his knee.

He is survived by Rosalind, his wife of 60 years; his children, John (Brenda), Conway (Angie) and Kim; his grandchildren, Ashley, Faith, Kane, Eric, Lachlan, Jensen and Patrick; and his great-grandchildren, Ava, Asher and Elias.

Harry leaves as well a large Newfoundland family, among them his siblings Bud (Jan) of Comox, British Columbia; Joan “Sis” Conway of Bishop’s Falls, Newfoundland; Don (Nelda) of Mississauga, Ontario; Ross (Peg) of Grand Falls, Newfoundland; Eugene (Fran) of Miramichi, New Brunswick; Jackie Farrugia (Gaetan) of Mississauga, Ontario; and Denise (Tony Richards) of Herring Neck, Newfoundland. He was predeceased by his parents, Jack and Alfreda, and his sister, Marguerite “Meg” Young.

Harry left instructions, in effect if not in writing, that no one should gather in a darkened room to weep over him. The family will instead mark his life this summer in the manner of the coast that raised him, with guitars and accordions, a libation or two and a great many stories told at his expense.

The family asks that you honour Harry, a longtime blood donor, by giving the gift of life and donating blood in his memory.

Long may your big jib draw, Harry. You loved people and they loved you back.

Professional cremation services provided by Simple Wishes of the North and Crystal crematorium.

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