Joanne Yvonne Blickley Fraser

She was born in Cambrai, France in 1945, the wartime daughter of Lawrence Blickley, a US Army Air Force officer and French national Solange LeBlanc. After WWII they settled in Brockton, Pennsylvania and, finally, in Delaware County, PA where her dad ended his career as a Chester Police captain and later as the mayor’s chief of staff.

She was a 1964 honors graduate of the former Notre Dame High School in Moylan, PA. Joanne happily took the commuter train to Philadelphia the following workday to start her career as a legal secretary at the prestigious law firm Drinker, Biddle and Reath. In 1968 she joined and married husband Andrew Fraser (from Teaneck NJ) on Army assignment in West Berlin, Germany. They had met in 1963, under a Christmas tree at a YMCA mixer dance, while he was a cadet at Pennsylvania Military College (now Widener University). They spent a wonderful two-year honeymoon in Berlin and she much enjoyed the social life of a Cold War military intelligence officer’s wife. Dear Son Andrew Jr. joined the family in 1969, born at the US Army Hospital Berlin.

After returning to the USA and Bergen County New Jersey she returned to the legal field in various positions, including Human Resources management at the firm of Crummy, Deldeo, Griffinger and Vecchione in New Jersey. She also eagerly obtained her BS diploma in Marketing Management from St. Peter’s University. That led her into the field of large ticket leasing management (jet airplanes and trains) with Bell Atlantic Tri-Con which became Verizon Leasing and later Finova Capital Corp. Her final pre-retirement position before moving to Virginia in 2004 was in the Human Resources department at Krups, the German appliance manufacturer.

In addition to husband Andrew, Joanne is survived by son Andrew, Jr. (MaryAnn), granddaughter Kirsten and grandson Mark, all of Chesterfield, VA.

Also surviving are sisters, Linda Squire (Doug) of Bear DE, Solange Shields (Greg) of Havertown, PA and Lisa Hallman (James RIP) of Upper Chichester, Pennsylvania. Numerous nieces, nephews and friends will also fondly remember her life. Dear French Cousin Jean-Claude Lefèbvre (Genevieve) and her extended French family also shared a big place in her heart, especially her beloved Aunt Eliane Lefèbvre (RIP), her mother’s sister.

Joanne was a voracious speed reader and possessed a highly analytical mind in everything she did. She was a numbers person. Her family was the core of her being, especially during her retirement years and she was the rock of her family. Her genuine warmth and smile, her caring personality and her pure honesty were always her most apparent traits as she traveled life’s long and challenging road.

Joanne’s soft towel will always remain in the bath and her slippers by the bed. Her loving and unselfish spirit will live forever in the hearts of her grieving husband, family and friends.

Joanne will be laid to her rest at the Virginia Veterans Cemetery chapel in Amelia in a family service. She loved bagpipes. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to a favorite charity or, specifically, the American Heart Association would be most appreciated.