Oren Ernest Frazee, professor of biology and avid genealogist, was born March 10, 1880, in Wabash County, Indiana. He attended the Indiana State Normal School in Terre Haute, Indiana, and later received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Indiana in 1909. In 1912, Frazee earned his Master of Arts degree, also at the University of Indiana. Other formal education included graduate work at Harvard in 1928. Frazee taught at elementary and secondary schools in Indiana and Illinois from 1906 to 1915. In 1915 he became head of the biology department at the Minnesota State Teacher’s College in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In 1920 Frazee came to La Crosse to accept a position as head of the biological sciences department at what was then called the La Crosse Normal School. He remained at that position until his retirement in 1950.
Frazee was a member of the American Association of University Professors, the Association of Wisconsin State College Faculties and the Presbyterian Church. Upon his retirement in 1950, the Board of Regents of the State Colleges bestowed upon him the title of professor emeritus. In 1956 the La Crosse State College established an award named after Frazee that was given to students who excelled in the sciences.
With his keen interest in genealogy, Frazee collected information and wrote manuscripts on several related families. Fifteen of these manuscripts are on file with the Institute of American Genealogy in Chicago. Frazee was a member of the Institution of American Genealogy and had received that organization’s Award of Merit. Frazee collaborated in the publication of the
Genealogy of Doniphan-Frazee-Hamilton Lines published in 1929. The La Crosse Public Library has a copy of this genealogy in the book collection.
Frazee married the former Alice B. Devol in 1912. They had one daughter, Mrs. Alice Ginn. Frazee died March 22, 1960.
