Barbara Fraser Selected as Gateway Voice of Mid-Life and Older Women (OWL) Woman of Worth

University City resident Barbara Fraser is our fourth profile of Local Women of Worth to be honored by the Gateway Voice of Mid-Life and Older Women (OWL).

Fraser‘s  work as a Missouri State Representative and St. Louis County Councilman, has enabled her to advocate for education, health, and environmental issues.

Her volunteerism had its roots in her childhood in her hometown of Raleigh, NC.

“My mother was the big volunteer in the family,” Fraser said. “She was involved in the art museum and governor’s mansion as a docent. I have a picture of me as a 7-year old Brownie in front of the veteran’s home where we brought them pansies. In high school, we had a group that volunteered at an orphanage 20 miles away. We were pen pals with the girls, and we would have parties for them. I was taught from the age of 5 to give back. It’s not something new to me.”

After moving to St. Louis in 1975, Fraser joined the Junior League of St. Louis.

“Volunteerism has always been a part of my life,” she said. “I’ve understood it as a way to get involved in the community, so when I came here, I started teaching at Francis Howell School District. People invited me to barbecues over the weekend, and it was a very warm and welcoming place.”

As a teacher, Fraser said it was important for her to give back to the community as a form of balance. While her children were growing up, she taught at Mary Institute Country Day School for 14 years, and was also involved in the Clayton Early Childhood Center.

She dipped her foot in political waters when she ran for the University City School Board.

“My reason for running  was specifically because there were too many children in the first and second grade classes,” she said. “That’s such a crucial time for children to have personal attention. We worked very hard,  and we accomplished getting smaller teacher/student ratios in the first three grades which was a huge success, and from there, I continued to be involved in the political world.

“In 1997, I bumped into Sue Shear, the state representative for this area (83rd District). She  told me she wasn’t running and why didn’t I run?” Fraser said. “I’m sure she said that to 100 people, but I took her up on it and ran, and won a hard primary by slim margin, then won the general election.”

While a member of the house, she sponsored the bill reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program which had to do with health care for children, making sure those children of limited income would have health care. 

“That was one of the greatest achievements in the state legislature that I had,” she said. “I had others involving domestic violence and safety, but that’s the one I hung my hat on because it so fits in with my basic core values of speaking out for those who in no other way can help themselves.

“The whole idea of being involved in the community is my thing,” Fraser said. “As a member of the Junior League, I branched out and got involved in public affairs through teaching. I remember going down to Jefferson City, and advocating for funding for education, Advocacy is volunteerism and I think public service is volunteerism.”

Once Fraser was elected to the St. Louis County Council, she was instrumental in the passage of the Clean Air Act.

“I had said as a candidate that I was in favor of a clean air act for second hand smoke, and I worked with different communities to get that done and was tremendously successful,  except for the exemptions,” she said. “It’s worthy of note that probably close to 99 percent of all working places in the county are smoke free.”

Fraser also helped in getting the anti-tethering ordinance passed in St. Louis County.

“My passion has been to really speak out for those who often could not speak out for themselves ,” she said. “This involves children or animals who don’t have a voice of their own.”

She said the best advice she every received, “You’ll never cease to grow if you have a passion for learning,” came from her parents.

“I think it’s basically a summation of their approach to life and learning,” she said. “Really and truly, sometimes you intuit advice more than anything else, and my parents were constantly learning.”

As for the future, she said “the sky’s the limit.”

“I feel this is an opportunity now to move forward,” she said. “I have no plans for public office at this time. I’m involved in a lot of things now. I know how the system works on the local, state and county levels, and those are pretty good skills that have been part of my long time learning process.”