Anna "Dolly" Margaret Fraser

Turkey suppers, homemade cookies, hemmed pants, and compassion for others are a sampling of the fond memories we all have of Dolly.

As an old fashioned Mom, Dolly, just like her Mom Maggie, was a baker. And It’s a testament to Dolly’s baking prowess that her children Gerry “Mike”, Cathy, David, and Brian didn’t know until later in life that cookies could be bought from a store. Dolly’s favourites were peanut butter, chocolate chip, molasses, and sugar cookies. Dolly also provided her family with an assortment of other delicious baked goods including raisin muffins, tweed squares, tea biscuits, jujube cake, fudge (chocolate and caramel) and caramel loaf. A child’s dream. Dolly also used her baking skills to contribute baked goods to fund raising events for St Paul’s Church.

Besides baking, making sure her children wore good comfortable clothes was also a priority. Clean, comfortable clothes were well managed by Dolly using her sewing machine, needle and thread, patches, sewing patterns, and ironing. Lost arts only continued today by old fashioned moms.

But Dolly’s signature was her delicious turkey suppers with all the fixins. Mashed potatoes, mashed turnips, carrots, gravy, and stuffing, No one ever left the table still hungry. But turkey suppers were not all that Dolly cooked for her family. Other delicious meals included chowders (corn and clam) casseroles (tuna and hamburger), scalloped potatoes, beef stews, and the best creative cheese sandwiches ever. And in Dolly’s own words, “it's a beautiful ham”. And no one else could take kam and turn it into an amazing sandwich. A work of art.

Dolly had compassion for others. Especially those that were in need. One night when the Fraser family was walking along the Halifax waterfront, they passed a homeless man asking for change. After initially walking past him, Dolly went back to give him some much needed change. Dolly could not ignore someone in need.

Sure there were a few “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph” moments during the years, and a few whacks with a wooden spoon, but let’s just say maybe they were needed once in a while.

During her years in Dartmouth, Dolly and the Fraser Family lived at three different locations. First on Dawson Street, then Fraser Street (yes, it was cool to live on a street having your name), and lastly on Brookside Avenue. At each location, the Fraser Family always had excellent neighbours. Dolly often spoke fondly of them and felt blessed to have them as her neighbours.

But life was not all turkey suppers and cookies for Dolly. Life was sometimes challenging as her husband Jack, who worked at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, was always away half the year at sea. Although Dolly lived as a part-time single mom, it was her priority that her family was well fed, had good, comfortable clothes on their backs, had comfortable beds to sleep in, and felt safe at home. And the door was always open for family and friends.

Although Dolly slowed down in her later years, her grandchildren (Michelle, Jamie, Stefan, Adam, Allison, Mackenzie, and Adley) and great-grandchildren (Levi and Casey) will always remember their Nan or Nanny for always having a full cookie jar (now store bought) in the kitchen for when they visited.

Dolly may have officially given birth to four children, but she had her arms wide open to all newcomers to the family (Linda, Kevin, Tania, Carl, Natalie, and Emma). Dolly loved them as if they were her own.

Dolly may have been the first born to her parents, Victor and Maggie, but she had to see the passing of eight of her beautiful siblings (Patricia, Kathleen, Aggie, Adeline, Gerard, Joe, Theresa, and Barb) and brothers-in-law Dennis Kelly and Rudy Spin. Dolly will now be dearly missed by her surviving sister Rita (Philip Meagher), brother Michael, brothers-in-law Arthur Williams and Louie Brow, sister-in-law Loretta “Sandy” DeCoste, and many nephews and nieces.

And four years ago, Dolly lost the love of her life, Jack. Dolly married Jack at the age of 18 and subsequently moved from her parents’ Victor and Maggie (Casey) DeCoste home in beautiful Havre Boucher to start her new life with Jack in Dartmouth. There was never a doubt that Jack and Dolly loved each other. Jack always considered Dolly to be his queen. On May 7, 2026, at the age of 89, Dolly was reunited with Jack.

Mom, thank you for unconditionally loving us. And thank you for understanding us. We will all miss you.

So can the Fraser family say that their Mom was a great Mom? We like to think so.

We encourage family and friends to please share their loving memories of Dolly.