The National Association of Episcopal Schools gives thanks for the life of the Venerable Faye Somers, who passed away at the age of seventy-two on February 19. With gratitude for her faithful witness, NAES remembers a chaplain, archdeacon, and Episcopal educator whose vocation and ministry shaped generations of students.
Faye joined the NAES Governing Board in 2016, bringing with her over forty years of classroom experience. Faye was then serving as Lower School Chaplain at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, FL—a position she held until 2022 when she retired from school ministry. Over the course of her tenure at St. Andrew’s, Faye taught multiple subjects in elementary education, designing core Virtues and Theology courses. In 1999 she was a finalist for the Dwyer Teacher of the Year award, and in 2001 she was the recipient of the Deaver Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2014 she was a recipient of the Patten Family Excellence in Teaching Award.
Faye began her ministry as a lay-person at St. Andrew’s in 2007. She was ordained to the diaconate in 2011 in the Diocese of Southeast Florida and was later appointed Archdeacon by Bishop Peter Eaton in 2018. She served for many years as Deacon to the Chapel of Saint Andrew, also in Boca Raton.
NAES remembers Faye as living a life characterized by a deep and abiding love of God, a commitment to service, and a joyful dedication to forming young hearts and minds in faith. After her retirement, she began fundraising for Fahasoavana, a school in Madagascar. And, perhaps most especially, she was a devoted mother of three and grandmother of four. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
Almighty God, we remember before you today your faithful servant Faye; and we pray that, having opened to her the gates of larger life, you will receive her more and more into your joyful service, that, with all who have faithfully served you in the past, she may share in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.