Chief John R. “Jack” Frazier, 71, Baltimore City Fire Department?s most senior member and bureau commander, died at St. Joseph Medical Center Friday of complications from a heart attack he had last Wednesday.
“Jack had the fire department running through his veins,” said retired firefighter Walter Lemmon, while standing outside St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church on York Road, where Frazier?s funeral service was held Tuesday.
Firefighters stood at attention, hands cocked to the side of their brows, as the sound of bagpipes filled the air ushering out Baltimore?s longest-serving fire department member.
Frazier grew up as the son of a Baltimore City Fire Department chief and always hoped to work for the department. He fulfilled his dream in 1954, when he entered the fire department after working for the Bureau of Water Supply for a short time.
During his 53-year career, Frazier amounted more than a trophy case full of accomplishments. He earned the rank of battalion chief, which made him the first son of a Baltimore City Fire Department chief to attain the same rank. After retiring in 1995, Frazier went to bat for the fire department in Annapolis as its legislative liaison.
“During his time in Annapolis, Jack helped get the firefighting boats in Baltimore and Annapolis,” Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said.
James Brown of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems said Frazier remained “extremely involved in legislation until the day that he passed.”
Frazier also worked for many committees that organize events for the fire department.
“I heard he used to organize one heck of a golf tournament,” Cartwright said.
Baltimore City Mayor Sheila Dixon gave her condolences to Frazier?s daughters Ellen Kunert, of Hampstead, and Jennifer Cernak, of Idlewylde, before the array of red emergency vehicles draped with black cloth were escorted by a fleet of motorcycle police out of the church parking lot. Frazier was buried at Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville.
