Peter's Student Tragedy
A St Peter’s College undergraduate was tragically swept to his death by powerful currents whilst helping to save the life of a friend. Jonny Fraser, 21, of Pinner, Middlesex, died on 30th August helping to save the life of a fellow traveller who had found herself in difficulty whilst swimming near the coastal city of Trivandrum. When he and some friends he had made on his travels were caught in treacherous waters, Jonny, a St Peter’s rower and keen sportsman, made it back to shore.
However the others could not fight the currents, and Jonny, described by friend Jon Edelman as someone who, “never stopped thinking about others and helping them in any way possible,” went back in to try and save them. All the other travellers were eventually pulled to safety but he was overcome by the strong currents. Jonny’s body was brought back to England by his parents, Peter and Bette and his sister Susie.
As the St Peter’s College flag flew at half mast, he was laid to rest in the Westminster Synagogue’s cemetery, Cheshunt on 8th September. Delivering the Eulogy at his son’s funeral, Peter Fraser paid tribute to the comfort, support and assistance the family had received. He also told Jonny’s friends, that he was conscious of the loss that they, particularly his girlfriend Sarah and his housemates from St Peter’s, had felt.
He said that his son was, “what the press mis-describe as a hero”. He explained that the word, literally meaning halfgod (someone with god-like qualities), had been corrupted and he wished his son to be remembered as a mensch, a Yiddish word meaning a complete man and someone who will do the right thing even if it is not in their best interests. RSY Netzer, the Jewish reform youth movement which Jonny had served as a leader, set up a message board for friends to pay tribute to him.
Over 170 people used the website to pay their respects to Jonny: friends from Oxford and from the Jewish community in London, young people he had taught at Kol Chai in Hatch End, old friends from Merchant Taylor’s school in Moor Park and many people he had met on his travels abroad. Also, poignantly, there were messages from people who had worked with him during the summer at Rothschild Bank, whose letter offering Jonny a full-time job had sat at home, waiting for his return from India.
His family said of the tributes: “We have read all the messages on the site with a mixture of amazement and pride. They have been a source of great comfort to us and we thank everyone who has left a message from the bottom of our hearts.” The students of St Peter’s have found it hard to come to terms with Jonny’s death. His empty room at the top of the college’s new accommodation block will serve as a painful and constant reminder of his absence.
Tom Spooner, Jonny’s tutorial partner and close friend admitted: “The beckoning prospect of resuming life at St Peter’s both in study and play seems daunting and almost alien without him.” Jonny’s Oxford tutors also paid tribute to him as a strident and forceful academic who was never afraid to venture an opinion. Dr Chris Ballinger, a Politics tutor, said: “To explain in words the void which Jonny’s tragic death has left, is impossible.
“I hope that he will live on through the actions, attitudes, and beliefs of all those many people whose lives he enhanced during his own fartoo- short time on this earth.” The Master of St Peter’s College, Professor Bernard Silverman, added his voice to those who praised Jonny as a gifted and well-liked student: “It’s a terrible blow to lose such a bright, talented and promising student as Jonathan. He was immensely popular with teachers and students, and will be greatly missed.
“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.” Jonny Fraser accomplished a great deal during his two years at Oxford. He represented St Peter’s at Rugby and Rowing, served on Secretary’s Committee at The Oxford Union and became involved with college drama.
Jonny’s girlfriend Sarah Philpott paid tribute to him and to his kind nature: “The number of lives Jonny touched and the intensity of the impact he had on close friends and strangers means that Jonny will always be with us. “I am so thankful for the two years which I shared with Jonny, for everything he taught me and for the fond memories I shall always cherish. “Life in Oxford will be difficult to begin with and different always.
I will miss him dearly, love him indefinitely and never forget him.” Speaking to The Oxford Student, Peter Fraser said that his son had enjoyed life at the University. “Jonny always threw himself into everything, but he really threw himself into Oxford,” he said.
He also admitted, “Modesty was perhaps not Jonny’s strongest virtue,” but recalled the story of Dominique Lucas, a friend who Jonny had met in India, who had said that it was his exuberant confidence and kind nature that had drawn people so close to him. These sentiments were echoed most poignantly by friend Thomas Lind, who said: “It’s no surprise, despite the constant irritating banter and pint-in-hand vaunting of himself, that in the end he gave all he had to someone else.
A memorial service will be held at St Peter’s later this term.
5th Oct 2005