1938 - 2020
Fraser Granville Hugh Peers passed away suddenly in Sundre, AB, 22 November 2020.
Fraser is survived by his four children and their families: Glenn Peers and his wife, Virginia Burrus, of Syracuse, NY; Greg Peers and his wife, Margaret, of Invermere, BC; Steven Peers, and his wife, Christine, of Winnipeg, MB; and Susan Pierunek, and her husband, Paul, of Sundre, Alberta. He is also survived by ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He is further survived by his first wife, Anne Peers Descheemaeker (née Dickie), of Sundre, AB, with whom he loved and raised their four children. He remarried in 1989 Muriel Jean Peers (née Bourinot), who sadly passed away in 2006; he spent fourteen years missing her greatly and is now joining her, in eternal happiness, in a common burial in Arichat, NS.
Fraser was born in Moose River, NS, in 1938, and was the eldest child of Clarence and Jean Peers. His three siblings survive him: Donald (Beth) Peers of Niagra Falls, ON; Marilyn (Jim) Melanson of Dartmouth, NS; and Sandra (Bernard) MacPhee also of Dartmouth. Numerous nieces and nephews thought the world of their uncle. Fraser returned home, as NS always was for him, at least once a year, and seeing his family there was one of his great pleasures. He was always happiest there. Fraser was a businessman in Port Hawkesbury, NS, until 1980, when he took a position with the federal government in the Northwest Territories, and he spent the rest of his career as a civil servant in the governments of the Territories and British Columbia before retiring to Alberta.
Fraser was a constant and eager student, though he had to leave his studies at St. Francis Xavier University before finishing his degree. But he returned to part-time studies in the 1970s and completed his BA in Business Administration from St. Francis Xavier in 1980. And he continued his studies with additional, distance degrees from the University of Waterloo. That attitude to learning made him open to the rich experiences of travel, and with Muriel, he was able to travel to Europe, Central America and the Middle East. Fraser also had memorable trips with his children, Susan and Steven, on several cruises, a particularly joyful way for him to travel. He continued to entertain retirement plans for Panama and Costa Rica, and he traveled there several times in hopes of making it a reality.
Closeness to his family, however, called him more strongly, especially to his daughter, near whom he lived in these last years. He loved the companionship of his daily coffee club, playing lots of cribbage, watching his beloved Blue Jays and Oilers, and tending to his collection of Canadian postage stamps, which reaches back to his boyhood--a lifelong passion. He was also an active member of the Lion’s Club all his adult life and took service to his community seriously. Everyone knew his gregarious salesmanship for raffle tickets that benefited many charities over the years.
In his last months, Fraser undertook one last adventure, helping to open a store with his friend Michael Van Benthem, and the satisfaction he got from that final business experience meant his last days were happy ones. Because of the current situation around Covid 19, memorial services are postponed. The family asks that donations be made to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Association in Fraser’s honour: https://www.heartandstroke.ca
