Maureen Fraser, special education teacher from Garden City, dies at 94

Formally, Garden City’s Maureen Fraser taught special education. But as those who knew her put it, all the education she taught was special.

"She was a pure educator," said Jacqueline Burdi Eltringham, a friend for decades and a colleague at their American Legion Auxiliary, where among other endeavors, Fraser interviewed students for scholarships.

"She looked to the future and she looked to the next generation to perpetuate the good of our future," Eltringham said.

That included her own five children, three of whom became attorneys, one a teacher and the other a chef.

Fraser, who died at home of natural causes on April 16 at age 94, nurtured her children in skills that ranged from reading to cooking to public service, said one of her two daughters, retired lawyer Denise Fraser Crisona, of Brooklyn.

"Even in her 90s, she was giving me ideas," said Crisona, who volunteers at the Brooklyn Public Library, teaching adults reading literacy. "She would talk about short stories that might be good for my students. And she was always looking to learn herself" — returning to school for a master’s degree after her children were grown, and voraciously reading "all kinds of books, and magazines like National Geographic and Time."

Eltringham said of Fraser: "She had the gift of faith and the gift of grace. Her devotion to veterans, her devotion to her country, her devotion to youth and her faith practice are all what made her a great person."

Born Maureen Perpetua Dougherty on Dec. 3, 1931 in Brooklyn, she was the second of six children of pharmaceuticals salesperson Joseph Patrick Dougherty and homemaker Mary J. "May" Callaghan Dougherty. Fraser attended Brooklyn’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy, which closed in July 2025. She went on to attend Brooklyn's Fontbonne Hall Academy and then St. Joseph’s College for Women, now St. Joseph’s University, where she earned a degree in English.

While at St. Joseph’s, where she performed in plays, she met young attorney Duncan Alexander Fraser Jr., the cousin of a lifelong friend. They married on June 19, 1954. By then she had begun her education career, teaching at a Brooklyn junior high school.

She took a long hiatus while raising her children, and the family moved to Garden City in 1969. Maureen Fraser became active in the PTA and civic organizations, and she and her husband were longtime members of the Atlantic Beach Club. The family also kept a Long Beach bungalow until it was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy, Crisona said.

After her children started college, Fraser returned to teaching, working first as a paraprofessional at Hillcrest High School in Queens and later as a special education teacher there. Certification requirements had changed by then, and Fraser, attending Garden City’s Adelphi University, obtained the requisite master’s degree in education — and went on to the 30 additional credits needed to reach the top pay tier. She retired at age 72.

Her husband died in 2022. A son, attorney Duncan Alexander Fraser III, died in 2017 at age 61.

While growing up, said Crisona, "We'd go to plays and museums."

Toward the end of her mother's life, she said, "I fortunately was retired and able to help oversee her care and have some fun with her over the last few years. We'd go to the beach and just sit and talk. We’d go out to lunch. We’d watch stuff on PBS — she was a big fan of PBS programs. She lived a very good, long life."

In addition to Crisona, Fraser is survived by her daughter Ellen Fraser Burns, of Carle Place; sons Donald Fraser, of Brooklyn, and Richard Fraser, of Texas; sister Regina Milton, of Edison, New Jersey; 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

"She really got to meet and know" that last generation, Crisona said. "She fed my first grandchild chocolate ice cream at the beach one day, and they were both covered in chocolate."

Visitation took place on April 23 at Fairchild Sons Funeral Home in Garden City. A funeral service was held the following day at The Church of Saint Joseph, also in Garden City. A cemetery service was private.