Mia Fereday

1922 - 2018

Mia Fereday
1922-2018
Muriel Henrietta Clark Fereday died April 14, 2018 in Boise, Idaho at the age of 95. This talented, vivacious woman, whom we knew as Mia, was born November 17, 1922 in Ithaca, New York to Carl Lester Clark and Margaret Rogers Clark. Mia graduated from Ithaca High School in 1939 and enrolled at Cornell University. After two years at the Ithaca campus, she entered Cornell's nursing school at New York Hospital in Manhattan, arriving soon after America entered World War II. She graduated in spring 1945 with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and began what would be a short career as a full-time nurse at the hospital. Mia was there, celebrating among millions in the city's streets, when the War ended. On a blind date the following year, she met transplanted westerner Russell D. Fereday in Hartford, Connecticut. Russ and Mia were married January 4, 1947 in Sage Chapel on the Cornell Campus. They spent their honeymoon in North Conway, New Hampshire, where she learned to ski. The couple then lived in Windsor, Connecticut while Russ continued his work as a test engineer at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Co. In August 1949, the couple, then with one small child and another on the way, moved to Boise where Russ went into business with Horlan's Boise, Inc. Mia turned her talents—and often her nursing skills—to raising a family.
Russ and Mia shared a love of music, especially singing and musical theater. Mia, one of those rare people born with perfect pitch, learned piano as a young girl and sang in choirs and other choral groups through high school and college. She eventually would direct singing ensembles, including the choir at Boise's Westminster Presbyterian Church. She was a member of the Boise Madrigal Club, and performed in local musical productions. Annie Get Your Gun, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Hello Dolly!, My Fair Lady, Camelot, Oliver, Fiddler on the Roof—Mia sang in them all, from the 1950s through the 1970s. She and Russ were charter members of the Showtimers, a singing group that for nearly 30 years brought the Great American Songbook and Broadway show tunes to audiences statewide. In their later years, she and Russ sang in Boise's Bizotek Basque Choir.
Mia volunteered in many community efforts. In the 1960s she was chair of the Experiment in International Living, which placed foreign exchange students with Idaho families. She served on the boards of The Bishops' House, the Friends of the Egyptian Theater, and the Basque Museum. She was a member of PEO Chapter H, the Idaho Jazz Society, and Silver Sage Porsche Club. The Idaho Statesman named her a "Distinguished Citizen" in 1982. She helped organize the first Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree and was part of the fundraising effort for the Morrison Center. Russ and Mia were longtime members of Hillcrest Country Club.
Mia was an avid reader, typically going through two books a week. She was an authority on the history of England and Scotland (she could explain, for example, everything you wanted to know about the Plantagenets). She and Russ traveled the world, often with friends and family. She especially enjoyed France, Norway, the Basque Country, the Middle East, New Zealand, and, of course, her beloved British Isles, which she and Russ visited many times.
Mia Fereday had an abiding love of nature and supported conservation causes. She stayed fit through regular walks along the canal just below the family home on Randolph Drive, and by skiing and swimming. She was an accomplished gardener, especially when it came to flowers. In her later years, Mia returned to an early love of drawing and painting and became a skilled water colorist.
Mia is survived by her sister, Marge Reese of Rock Hill, S.C.; children Jeff (wife Kay Hummel), Rick (wife Deb Fereday), Jamie (wife Margie Ryan) and Meg (husband Dale Reynolds); grandchildren Scott Fereday (wife Fallon Fereday), Todd Fereday, Wyatt Fereday, Charlie Fereday, Rosalind Reynolds and Rhiannon Reynolds; great-granddaughter Sybil Fereday; and several nieces and nephews. Mia was preceded in death by her parents, by her eldest child, Lynne, in 1971, and by her husband, Russ, in 2013.
The family appreciates the excellent care Mia received at Ivy Place in her final years. Those wishing to make a donation in Mia's memory are invited to consider the Ansotegui-Fereday Memorial Scholarship, BSU Foundation, 1910 University Dr. Boise 83705; The Friends of the Bishops' House; or an organization working to protect wildlife habitat and wild places. A celebration of life for Mia Fereday will be held at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, 2018 at The Bishops' House, 2420 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise.