Olive Harris Fugal, 93, a longtime teacher, church organist, and very active participant in local civic, cul-tural, and reli-gious affairs, died peacefully in the early morning of August 30, 2001 in Milford, Connecticut.
Born in Salem, ID Oct 26, 1907, she was the daughter of D. Rolla and Sarah Bell Harris, both members of prominent Mormon pioneer families. She lived and attended school in Sugar City, ID graduating as valedictorian of Sugar City High School in 1925. She attended Ricks Junior College in Rexburg, ID and graduated as valedictorian in 1927. She attended Brigham Young University in Provo, UT for her junior and senior years, graduating magna cum laude in 1929. In 1966, Mrs. Fugal earned her MA degree magna cum laude from Southern Connecticut State University, with a 4.0 average. She taught for a year in Midvale, UT and in 1930, married Dr. G. Roy Fugal, deceased in 1979, a prominent local area industrialist.
The couple moved to Boston, MA in 1930, where Mrs. Fugal began the second year of her long teaching career at The Carroll School in West Newton, MA, while her husband obtained his Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She taught for eight years, moving to Bridgeport, CT in mid-1938 where they started their family. Mrs. Fugal was an accomplished concert pianist and church organist, beginning her church musical career at age 12 in Salem, ID. She served as church organist for 78 years until failing health forced her retirement, last serving in the Woodbridge Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was a member for many years of local garden clubs: the Patterson Club in Fairfield, and the local Milford Garden Club, where she served as president. She was most proud of being elected a National Flower Judge. Other hobbies included being an accomplished seamstress. A lifetime member of the PTA, she began her education career in Midvale and Boston, and returned again to teaching, for five years at Hamden Hall Country Day School, and an additional 16 years at Woodmont School, from which she retired in 1973. Thereafter, she continued as a volunteer tutor and library aide for a number of years, placing her teaching career at well over 30 years.
She was instrumental in establishing the Woodmont Branch of the Milford Public Library, and served for many years as PTA Chairperson at Woodmont and Seabreeze Schools, while raising her family. She and her husband were chairpersons for a number of years of the Milford High School Student Loan Fund, as well as serving as Site Committee Chairmen for Seabreeze School (currently East Shore Middle School). She was a founding member of the East Shore Civic Association (in Woodmont). She was also a member of the Woodmont Day Committee, serving as secretary for several years. Mrs. Fugal gave many years of service as a volunteer to local scouting activities, including Cub Scouts, Brownie Scouts, and the Girls Scouts of America.
She was extremely active over her entire lifetime in the activities of local wards and branches of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints including, besides her music, genealogical work and scriptural instruction. She and her husband founded a dependent Sunday School of the Church in Bridgeport, which quickly grew into the Bridgeport Branch, the Bridgeport Ward, the Merritt Ward, and currently, the Trumbull Ward, reflecting the rapid growth of the Church in the Northeast. In later years, she attended the Woodbridge Ward.
She is survived by her children, Jan P. Fugal, MD, a local pediatrician and former Milford Board of Education Chairman, Sara Christine Newell, a former Milford teacher and Board of Education President from Walnut Creek, CA, Kristina Gretchen Sancher, a former and current teacher in the Milford school system; 20 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Calling hours will be Fri. 4-8:30 p.m. at The Cody-White Funeral Home, Milford, with services Sat. 2 p.m. at the Woodbridge Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Racebrook Rd. Burial, Tues. 10 a.m. in the family plot, Pleasant Grove, UT, after calling hours 6-8 p.m. Mon. at Olpin Family Mortuary, 494 S. 300 E, Pleasant Grove. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to The Woodmont Borough Public Library, 16 Dixon St, in care of Ellen Aftamonow, Head Librarian.