Marianne Margaret Ley Ferris of Simsbury, entered The Kingdom of Heaven, Thursday, February 15, 2018 surrounded by her loving family. She was 96. She is survived by her four children: Marianne Lizotte and her husband Raymond of Simsbury, CT, Elizabeth Vogt and her husband Roger of Lakewood Ranch, FL, Alecia Manning and her husband Frank of Boston, MA, and Peter Ferris of Avon, CT. Her family also included 11 cherished grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband of 53 years Edmund “Brig” Wittenmeyer Ferris, her son Lyman and granddaughter Sarah Lizotte.
Marianne was born in Honnef, Germany in 1921 and immigrated to the United States with her father Vincent, mother Maria, sister Gertrude and brother John, traveling on the S.S. Bremen arriving at Ellis Island in April of 1923. Her family successfully owned and operated the Avenue U Florist in Brooklyn and moved to Newton, NJ where they purchased a parcel of land, built a commercial greenhouse and opened Ley’s Florist Shop. Marianne attended St. Elizabeth’s Academy in Convent Station, NJ and worked long hours in the floral shop to support her family. In 1946 she met an office supply salesman Edmund “Brig” Ferris while working as an office temp. A year later she married the “love of her life” and in 1948 the first of her five children and namesake Marianne was born.
Marianne was a devoted Christian, wife and mother that loved and adored her husband and cherished her five children. She did everything she could to support her husband and his career. She was responsible for not only raising five children but also caring for her father Vincent in the family home. She enjoyed traveling around the world with her husband Brig. They traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia in a long forgotten era of international travel. Her favorites were Salzburg, Austria, the German state of Bavaria and St. Croix. She was an avid tennis and paddle tennis player and enjoyed playing in club tournaments at both Hop Meadow Country Club and Hop Brook Tennis Club. She was an artist embracing a wide range of mediums from oil paints to pressed flowers. She enjoyed being in her garden at her homes in Simsbury and Vero Beach, FL. She loved family events, entertaining and being impeccably dressed, including matching headbands, regardless of the occasion. She cherished the many special friendships she made in each of the communities she was part of; including her beloved friends, and staff of the McLean Home. Her sweet tooth was legendary; Russell Stover stock price went down with news of her passing.
Her life will be celebrated during a Funeral Mass of Christian Burial at 12:30 PM on Saturday, February 24th at St. Catherine of Siena Church, 265 Stratton Brook Road in West Simsbury, CT. Burial will follow in the Simsbury Cemetery. The family will receive guests at a reception following the graveside service at Hop Meadow Country Club, 85 Firetown Rd, Simsbury, CT. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to her granddaughter’s scholarship fund: The Sarah E. Lizotte Memorial Scholarship Fund, Office of Alumni and Development, Johnson State College, Johnson, VT 05656. The Vincent Funeral Home of Simsbury is caring for the arrangements. Condolences and remembrances may be shared at www.vincentfuneralhome.com.