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Frasier leaves a lasting influence
Photo
The late Sharyl E. Frasier
YOUNGSTOWN
Fighting fires as a profession was once completely dominated by men in the city, but that was before November 1981, before Sharyl E. Frasier.
Frasier was the first professional woman firefighter in Youngstown, having joined the city fire department that year. She died last week, but the effect she had on others is lasting.
When asked about becoming the first female firefighter and the first black woman to have the job, Frasier said in a 1982 interview in The Vindicator that it was not something she planned. “To tell you the truth, I was just looking for a job,” said the 1976 East High School honors graduate.
Marsha Harris, a 21-year veteran of the Youngstown Fire Department, was a close friend of Frasier’s and said Frasier took the job she found and made it instrumental in the lives of countless people.
She said Frasier became a major figure for women firefighters who would join the department after her.
“She was absolutely the trailblazer. When other females were hired, she always embraced us and would come around and talk to us or encourage us,” Harris said. “We spent so much time together, but my most fond memory is our daily lunches.”
Frasier, shortly after joining the department, said in an interview she did not mind working in the all-male environment. She just wanted respect and the occasional female with whom she could speak.
“It doesn’t bother me, just as long as I’m respected as a woman. It would be nice, though, to have another woman around just to talk to,” she said after joining the department.
Frasier, who died Feb. 10 — her 53rd birthday — ultimately would get her wish and help make a woman’s presence much more common in the fire department. The department now has eight female firefighters.
Frasier also did not seem to have any problems blending with her male counterparts. Harris said that ability to adapt to any environment — at work or life in general — was a testament to Frasier’s natural personality.
“She was outgoing, and people just liked her. No one was a stranger to her. If she went out on an inspection, there would be someone there she was going to speak to,” she said.
Alvin Ware, a 25-year veteran of the department and another close friend of Frasier’s, said she used her embracing personality to help direct the lives of young people as well.
Frasier was instrumental in helping to obtain the Kneeley Fire Safety Trailer to help teach kids the dangers of fire.
Ware said he and Frasier also worked with young people in the Juvenile Firefighter Program where troubled youths receive instruction about fire safety.
Frasier, who married Ted Everett Sr., a retired firefighter in 2008, retired in 2009, but Harris said the effect she had on so many people will be felt for years to come. “Life is about to change drastically,” she said.