Kenneth Fraser; directed probation officers on Cape

Mr. Fraser grew up in Norwood, the second of two children of Kenneth and Barbara Fraser. He graduated in 1975 from Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood.

He studied criminal justice at Stonehill College in Easton. During his college summers, he worked as an auxiliary policeman in Norwood.

“He always seemed to be interested in police, cop stuff,’’ said his sister, Mary Paula Lydon of Norwood.

After graduation from college, he began working as a buyer at Codex, a technology firm in Mansfield.

In 1979, Mr. Fraser met Patrice Keane at a picnic. In 1983, they were married and bought a house in Mansfield. There, he and a friend opened a downtown bait shop, Hook, Line & Sinker.

In 1986, on the day of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Kenneth III, the couple’s first son was born.

Nine months later, the family moved to Sandwich.

In about 1988, Mr. Fraser began working full time in law enforcement. He started as a dispatcher in Sandwich and later became a patrolman there and in Chatham.

In 1993, he was hired by the Barnstable County sheriff to help run the work-release program, finding local jobs for inmates.

Eventually, he got the opportunity to work with one of his greatest passions: dogs.

“We’ve had four dogs, plus two work dogs,’’ his wife said. “He just kept bringing them home.’’

In 2002, Sheriff James Cummings promoted him to the position of director of community corrections. Mr. Fraser led the probation department, overseeing the drug-testing and work-release programs, for about seven years.

In his final two years, Mr. Fraser continued working despite receiving radiation treatment for his cancer.

“Even though he was sick, battling his cancer, he’d get in here when he shouldn’t have even bothered,’’ Cummings said. “He was just dedicated to his job.’’

Last week, the sheriff’s department presented him with the 2009 Employee of the Year award.

His family described Mr. Fraser as a quiet and gentle man.

“He put his family first,’’ his wife said. “He loved fishing, he loved his family, he loved his home, and he loved Sandwich.’’

In addition to his wife and sister, Mr. Fraser leaves his mother, Barbara of Norwood, and his three children, Kenneth III, Kayleigh, and Patrick, all of Sandwich.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Corpus Christi Church in Sandwich. Burial will be in Sandwich Town Cemetery.