NORA BELFAY

NORA BELFAY 05/02/1924 - 07/05/2025 CHICO, CA Nora Janice Garner Riggs Belfay, 101, passed away peacefully on July, 5, 2025 with family by her side. Nora was born in Claremont, South Dakota on May 2, 1924. Her father, Ora L. Garner, was a pioneer in the Dakota Territory before it became South Dakota, and was superintendent of schools in Claremont, SD. He passed away in 1951. Her mother, Aimee Marie Rice was originally from Tyson, Vermont, passed away in 1954. She was also the stepdaughter of the late John E. Windle, Jr. Nora Garner had a weekly radio show in the early 1940's performing as a soloist soprano. Having heard her sing, a trustee of Boston University, paid for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in music and BU. In January, 1943, Nora married Alfred (Al) Dodge Riggs, Jr. During her years in college, she raised two small children and performed opera throughout New England. She studied with Sarah Caldwell, a renowned American opera conductor, and performed with the Boston Pops, at the Tanglewood Music Center (the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home), and for Sunday Concerts at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Stepping away from performing in the 1950's and 1960's to raise two more children, Nora soon turned to teaching music at Belmont Elementary School in Worcester. In the 1970's, she directed several choral groups including a choir at Anna Maria College and the Worcester Unitarian Church youth choir. In 1973, Nora and Al divorced. In December 1977, Nora married Fredrick (Fred) Belfay (Lt. Col. USAF, ret) and moved to Washington State. She took a position with Computer Curriculum Corporation (CCC) training school administrators and teachers in the use of educational software. When she retired in 1989, CCC honored her service by naming the newly created Consultant of the Year award, "The Nora Belfay Award." Nora and Fred moved back to Massachusetts and lived in Sutton until Fred's death in 1992. She moved back to Grafton, MA, a town she always considered home. In 2012, Nora moved to Chico, CA to live with family. She was active in Chico, attending many classes with the OLLI program and making many close friends. Nora leaves behind her son Alfred (Dee) Dodge Riggs, III and his wife Kathy Riggs of Pleasant Grove, UT, son Jonathan Windle Riggs of Chico, CA, daughter, Holly Garner Riggs and her husband Bob Gragson of Chico, CA, and a daughter-in-law (widow of son Jeffrey), Maria Bertone of Eugene, OR, and step-daughters Mika Belfay and Melissa (Missy) Belfay. She also leaves eight grandchildren Alfred (Freddy) Dodge Riggs IV, Stephanie Bassett, Samantha Weaver, Tyson Bertone-Riggs, Michelle Gross, Sumner Bertone-Riggs, Erin (Starly) Gragson, and Connor Gragson. She also leaves 14 great grandchildren and ten great-great-grandchildren. Her sister Margaret Eunice Allen, her son Jeffrey Sumner Riggs, and her husband Fredrick Belfay preceded her in death. She also leaves a cousin, Janet Eidbo of Des Moines, Iowa. Nora was beloved by those who knew her and leaves many friends in Chico and throughout the U.S. Nora will be interred with her husband Fred Belfay at the Massachusetts National Cemetery at Bourne, MA.