NORFOLK, Va. – Ed Fraim, who for more than three decades was Old Dominion's primary athletic fundraiser, passed away early Thursday morning. He was 81 years old.
A graduate of Norfolk Catholic High School and ODU, Fraim took command of ODU's fundraising efforts in the late 1970s when the university raised less than $40,000 per year.
By the time he retired in 2010, ODU was raising nearly $2 million per year.
"He was the father of Old Dominion University athletic philanthropy," said Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics. "He was so successful because he was so well known and so well-liked."
Selig said ODU will hold a moment of silence in Fraim's honor just before kickoff of ODU's football game against Virginia Tech Friday night.
"We'd been talking to my dad for a long time about this game," said Tara F. Saunders, one of his daughters and executive director of the ODU Real Estate Foundation.
"Leave it to my dad to preempt the game. One of the last things I reminded him of was tomorrow's game hoping that it would keep his spirits high."
His youngest brother, former Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, said Ed Fraim loved ODU. He played basketball for ODU before graduating in 1964.
"He devoted the better part of his life to Old Dominion," Fraim said. "And he loved going to work every day. He saw his role as doing all he could to help Old Dominion succeed.
"He touched a lot of people along the way."
Before coming to ODU, Ed Fraim was also a successful high school basketball coach and a member of one of Norfolk's most storied families.
Ed was the oldest of five siblings, all of whom were successful despite growing up in poverty in Norfolk's Riverview neighborhood.
Their mother, Thelma Fraim, became a widow in 1949 when Ed Fraim Sr. died of a heart attack at the age of 44 just three weeks after Paul Fraim and twin sister Kathy were born.
Thelma Fraim worked two jobs and took in boarders to make ends meet and to keep her kids busy, required them all the play sports. All five graduated from Norfolk Catholic, which has since moved to Virginia Beach and is now known as Catholic High.
Ed Fraim compiled a 265-99 record as basketball coach in 11 seasons at Norfolk Catholic, where he was also a teacher and the athletic director. He was among the first coaches of a predominantly while school to schedule games against predominantly Black schools before Virginia high school basketball was integrated.
His brother, Dick Fraim, became a radio sportscaster – he was the radio voice for ODU basketball before he went into radio and TV management at Landmark Communications. Dick Fraim is among ODU's most generous athletic donors.
Tommy Fraim, a successful Norfolk businessman, was a longtime ACC and Big East basketball referee.
Kathy was a longtime executive secretary who married Dennis Price, who became principal at Norfolk Catholic and followed the school to Virginia Beach. She was a basketball star at Norfolk Catholic, where her teams went 58-3 in her three seasons.
Paul Fraim served on Norfolk's City Council for three decades and was Norfolk's mayor for 24 years, the longest tenure in the city's history.
Kathy Fraim Price said that Ed Fraim became a "father figure" for both her and Paul Fraim.
"We didn't have a father," she said. "So we both looked up to Ed. He helped us so much when we were kids.
"Ed was the kindest man I've ever known. And he had that twinkle in his eye when he smiled. I'm going to miss that so much."
Former ODU Sports Information Director Carol Hudson said Fraim gave him his start in athletics at Norfolk Catholic, where he kept score for the basketball team.
"Ed Fraim was a great basketball coach and a great person," Hudson said. "He touched so many people in the community."
Longtime ODU donor Barry Kornblau said Ed Fraim convinced him to begin donating to ODU athletics.
Kornblau has contributed more than $2 million to ODU's baseball program, and in 2019, donated $3 million to aid in the renovation of Foreman Field football stadium. The stadium is now known as Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Kornblau funded the "Rally Alley" party deck at the baseball stadium, which he named for Ed Fraim.
"To me, Ed Fraim was synonymous with the Big Blue Club," Kornblau said of the forerunner of the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.
"He was our only fundraiser for many years. He knew everybody. He would call on all our of our donors every year and people looked forward to seeing him."
Fraim was inducted into the Catholic High Hall of Fame in 1985 and into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
He is survived by his wife, Sandra; ex wife, Joyce M. Fraim, and four children: Lisa Seu, Eddie Fraim III, and Brent Fraim, in addition to Tara Fraim Saunders.
Fraim's funeral mass will be held Friday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 11 a.m. A reception will be held at the church immediately following.
Ed Fraim, the Father of Athletic Philanthropy at ODU, Passed Away on Wednesday
