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Alberga & Inez Fraser |
Alberga Oliver Fraser was born to Dorcas and Elijah
Fraser in Ashkenish, Hanover, on December 8, 1920. Born frail, his parents and
neighbours did not expect him to survive beyond a single day, but he lived for
more than a century. His parents were active Presbyterians, his father being an
elder in his church.
During a happy childhood, he attended Ashkenish Elementary School and he preached his first sermon when he was in his late teens, when he replaced his father, the scheduled preacher, who was ill and appointed him for the task. The desire to become a pastor started to grow in him. He successfully completed the First, Second and Third Jamaica Local Examinations and then took a job as a pre trained teacher at his alma mater. Soon after, he applied to his denomination for admission to theological college for ministerial training, but was turned down on the stated basis of inadequate qualifications. He resumed teaching, this time, in Alligator Pond and then at Tower Hill near Montego Bay. During the later period, he lived with his aunt and her family. He joined the family in worshipping at Burchell Memorial Baptist Church in Montego Bay, where he became a member of the church, whose pastor was Edmund Greaves.
Greaves guided Fraser through the process of applying
for ministerial training and preparation for entry to College. Successfully
completing the College entrance examinations and satisfying the other
requirements, he, together with Azariah McKenzie, John Alexander, Alan Walker
and Alan Parkes entered Calabar Theological College in 1946.
During his final year in College, Fraser went to assist the pastor of the Good Hope Baptist Church in Prospect, Trelawny. He resided with Deacon William Todd and his wife Adrianna and their family. In that home he met Inez, the deacon's daughter, who would eventually become his wife.
After graduation from Calabar, Fraser spent happy and productive years in the pastoral ministry. He served in two circuits of churches – Mt Nebo from 1950 to 1972 and Ocho Rios from 1972 until his retirement in 1997.
At Mt Nebo in Guy's Hill, St Catherine, Fraser pastored three churches - Mt Nebo, Wheeler's Mount and Richmond Hill. He led the people to complete or restore their dilapidated buildings and to erect a new mission house. Ever one to give credit to others and not to himself, Fraser had words of praise for the people’s cooperativeness. The people themselves would doubtless point to the quality of their pastor’s leadership and example. Fraser played cricket with the young men and boys in his circuit and the churches grew exponentially under his leadership.
In 1951, Hurricane Charlie battered the Mt Nebo church building and mission house. Under Fraser’s dynamic leadership, the church members showed their capacity to face a challenge. Fraser faithfully carried out his duties in preaching, the conduct of Bible Study, leadership training and pastoral care. At first, his means of transportation was a horse named “Rushlite.” Later, he purchased a motorbike which he found to be an improvement on horseback riding. Eventually, he purchased a car.
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A Joyful Wedding, Happy Marriage |
On April 17, 1954, he exchanged marital vows with Inez Todd and found in her a wonderful partner in ministry. To help support his family, which eventually included four biological children, Fraser utilized the land available to him to develop a farm, growing yams, banana and breadfruit. He also had a few cows to supply the family with milk.
After completing 22 years of service in the Mt Nebo circuit, Rev and Mrs. Fraser and their family — Claudette, Dahlia, Grace, Karl and David — moved to Ocho Rios to serve a circuit comprising Exchange, Walkerswood, Orange Park, Epworth and Ocho Rios churches as well as two class houses, Parry Town and Colgate. Fraser worked hard to cope with the increased demands vibrant church life placed on his time. He engaged in pastoral work with vigor and joy and emphasized training the youth in discipleship. Not surprisingly, before he ended his time in the circuit, seven of the young people — Sydney Hall, Godfrey Francis, Dennis Webb, Mark Brissett, Merlyn Hyde Riley, Jeffrey White and Derrick Forbes became ministers. Continuing to express concern for adequate and appropriate church infrastructure, he influenced the church members to cooperate in relocating both the Ocho Rios and the Walkerswood churches and erecting new buildings. These were difficult and demanding projects that, had they not been undertaken, today, we would lament the omission. Fraser also oversaw the start of the construction of the Colegate church building programme.
Fraser had one other important and challenging assignment before his retirement. Unafraid of hard work and firmly putting his faith in God’s unfailing accompaniment of all who attempt great things for God, Fraser, with the concurrence of the Executive Committee of the Jamaica Baptist Union, secured the division of the original Ocho Rios circuit into two circuits – one named Ocho Rios circuit and comprising Exchange, Parry Town, Snow Hill and Ocho Rios churches; and the other called the Walkerswood circuit and comprising Orange Park, Epworth, Colegate and Walkerswood churches. Undoubtedly, with Fraser’s help, the new Orange Park circuit secured the leadership of Clement Gayle, who had resigned after many years of service at the United Theological College of the West Indies and was desirous of ending his active years of ministry in the pastorate. Rev Clement Gayle assumed the leadership of the new circuit on November 1, 1991.
Eight years later, at the age of 77, Fraser retired from the pastoral ministry in the Ocho Rios circuit. He had contributed 47 years of faithful ministry within the context of the Jamaica Baptist Union, whose leaders and members held him in very high regard. The Presbyterians’ loss was the Baptists’ gain.
Fraser enjoyed 25 years of active retirement during which
he continued serving as a Justice of the Peace in the parish of St Ann and a
marriage officer. He also made himself available to respond to invitations from
the churches and wrote his autobiography, What A God! Reflections of a
Centenarian. In this book he explained:
I
hope that sharing my story will help to jog your memory and enhance your
appreciation of how God has been working in your life. What a God! My message
to those coming after me is simply this: life is a golden gift; it is a
privilege. Take every opportunity to do good. Remain faithful to whatever God
has called you to do. What a God we have! He is so great.
A community builder, he was Chairman of the several School Boards in St Catherine and St Ann. His commitment to positive family life was reflected in his record of officiating at the weddings of 4,475 couples and his own 68 years of marriage.
After a brief hospitalization in Annotto Bay and at the University Hospital of the West Indies, A. O. Fraser died on August 4, 2022. In his passing, ministers of the Jamaica Baptist Union lost an encourager who enriched them by his example, graciousness and humility. We rejoice that he continues to nurture us through his autobiography which some of have read several times.
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