Samar Fay

Salida, CO
samarfay@gmail.com

Currently Nation Episcopal Church Women Board Secretary

Samar was born into an Air Force family at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. They moved around the South, to upstate New York, to Germany, and to Aurora, Colorado, where she went to high school. She studied international relations at Vassar College, spent junior year abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, and graduated in 1968. She earned an M.A. at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.

Samar married Mike Fay, a West Point graduate, and continued the nomadic life as an Army wife, moving from east coast to west coast, Germany to Hawaii. They became Episcopalians while the Army was sending him to medical school. They have two sons, both in the TV industry. She served on boards of Officers’ Wives Clubs on four Army posts and volunteered in hospitals and a vet clinic.

When Mike retired, they moved to a small town in northeastern Montana to establish a private orthopedic practice. Samar was the reporter and photographer for the county newspaper, then the editor for 12 years. During this time, Mike answered a call to ministry and was ordained an Episcopal priest. They were deputies from the Diocese of Montana to General Convention in Indianapolis in 2012.

In 2013 they moved to Salida, in Mike’s home state of Colorado, where he was the rector of Ascension Church until his retirement in June. This is where Samar became involved with ECW. Nowhere in her life as a military kid and military wife had she encountered ECW. She attended a women’s retreat at the diocesan camp, Cathedral Ridge, and chanced to meet some very interesting women, many of whom were as questioning about the certainties of religion as she was. Then she attended the 2014 Province VI annual meeting in Denver and agreed to be the secretary. She attended the 2015 Triennial meeting in Salt Lake City. At the 2018 Triennial in Austin, Texas, she was elected secretary of the NECW board. It has been a fascinating time of forming close friendships with remarkable women, traveling all over the country to other provinces, learning to adapt to the Covid-19 restrictions we all had to deal with and still getting the job done.

Salida is a fascinating, active mountain town loaded with events in every season of the year. Samar sings in the community chorus, is active in the Central Colorado Conservancy, has acted in the community theater, and has ridden in the local fox hunt (they never catch any foxes). She has been in the Altar Guild, the choir, and served as clerk on several vestries. She also enjoys reading, cooking, gardening and keeping golden retrievers and horses. Since Mike’s retirement, while Ascension is searching for a new rector and we can’t attend there (and look over their shoulders at the process), we have enjoyed streaming services from various cathedrals on Sunday mornings, coffee in hand. It will have to do until we can rejoin our friends in the pews.

When I look at the position of secretary for a group, I want attention to detail, accuracy and honesty. These are qualities I find in Samar Fay. She does not hesitate to speak up if something doesn’t seem consistent during a meeting. I have served with Samar as my secretary for almost 7 years, and her attention to detail amazes me. I am 100% behind the nomination of Samar Fay for the National Board of the Episcopal Church Women in the position of Secretary. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Heather E. Bauer

President, Province VI ECW