Farmington Obituary: Ola Ferla, 101

Ola K. Ferla – army nurse, tireless gardener, and great pragmatist, one of the last living members Great Generation–passed peacefully on Sunday, July 8 at the age of 101 surrounded by her family.

Ola was born and raised in Ashfield, MA, the second of four children of immigrants from the Carpatho-Rus region of Eastern Europe. She was a child of agrarian New England, of the Great Depression, of tin buckets collecting maple sap and barn cats and trillium. Valedictorian of her high school class and perennially sharp as a whistle, Ola received her nursing degree from Hartford Hospital Nursing School in 1940, achieving – as she would proudly note – the highest score of her year on the Connecticut Nursing State Board Examination. She was the last surviving member of her class.

Ola served as a first lieutenant army nurse during WWII and was stationed in England and Scotland, where treated the wounded from the Battle of D-Day. She found great companionship with and pride in her comrades in the army nurse corps, whose terrific gumption and unsung acts of bravery contributed immensely to the war effort.

After the war, she married S. Joseph Ferla, himself a decorated war veteran whose sense of caper matched her own. They moved to Farmington; there, she lived out the remaining 72 years of her life and raised her children, Susan and Paul.

She retained both the thrifty sensibility of her upbringing and the grounded sensibility of a nurse long into her life, washing paper towels and hanging them out to dry on the line for reuse and, at the same time, advising not to sweat the small stuff. Nursing was only one, and perhaps an even narrow, expression of Ola’s concern for the wellbeing of others.

At any given time, she maintained no less than five gardens, including those at the All Saints Orthodox Church in Hartford and her own beautifully terraced flower beds. Never did a single birthday of a friend or relative pass without a card from Ola and she was a steadfast friend, seeing many through the end of their lives.

Ola had a will so dauntless as to be called stubborn, and throughout all of her aging, never quite did grow old. She walked 4 miles a day until her mid-nineties, practiced yoga with the help of her friend Leslie until last year, and could always recite the score from last night's Red Sox game.

Fabulous and elegant until the end, she sported long fur coats, animal prints, and coral lipstick. She was renowned for her lemon meringue pie but had a lesser-known but by no-means-lesser skill for homemade applesauce.

Ola is survived by her children Susan Ferla of Stamford and Paul Ferla of Avon, son-in-law John Jesse, and daughter-in-law LouAnn Ferla; her beloved grandchildren, Jessica Ferla of Avon and Abigail Ferla and her partner Christopher of Ashfield, MA; her extraordinarily supportive church community, and countless friends – notable among these Phyllis Sturtevant and neighbor Amy Tenant.

Her family would like to express their sincere gratitude for her devoted medical team: the hematology department at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale, Dr. Alfred Lee, Dr. Edward Clerkin, and Ola’s caregivers Elizabeth and Theresa. She lives on in the thousands of tulips, irises, daffodils and other bulbs that she planted far and wide, sometimes covertly and always with great delight.

Relatives and friends are invited to call on Thursday, July 12 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. at the Duksa Family Funeral Homes at Newington Memorial, 20 Bonair Ave., Newington. Her funeral service will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, July 13 at the All Saints Orthodox Church at 205 Scarborough Street, Hartford. She will be laid to rest in Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield. Ola would be pleased by colorful attire.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to All Saints Orthodox Church.