Marion Louise Ryder

Marion Louise Liggett Ryder, of Boise, Idaho, passed away peacefully on April 13, 2025, at the age of 96. She was born on August 25, 1928, to James A. and Ruby Johnson Liggett in Roundup, Montana, where she grew up and graduated from high school in 1946. She attended university in Missoula, where she received her Bachelor of Music in 1950, and met her future husband, Walter Arthur Ryder, Jr.; together they would celebrate 71 wedding anniversaries. In 1951, they moved to Germany, where Walter was stationed as a first lieutenant in the Air Force; there they welcomed their first child, Jean. In 1953, they returned to Montana and settled in Bozeman, where their next two children, Dennis and Jan, came along. In 1957, the family relocated to Idaho Falls, where their final child, James, showed up. While busy raising a family, Marion continued with her education, eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts in both English and French at Idaho State University in Pocatello, a Masters in English at ISU, and a Masters in French at the University of Utah. She also worked at Chesbro Music in Idaho Falls and was the church organist and choir director at the First Congregational Church and later the organist at St. John’s Episcopal Church (now St. Luke’s). She was also active in PEO and Eastern Star. In 1992, she and Walter retired to Pocatello, where they lived until making their final move to Boise in 2003. There she knitted beautiful prayer shawls for St. Michael’s Episcopal Cathedral. She especially enjoyed: sewing and knitting, music, languages, and travel, and she made several trips abroad to Europe and the UK. She was a good mom and will be dearly missed.

She is survived by her children: Dennis (Anni), of Pleasanton, California; Jan, of North Attleborough, Massachusetts; and Jim (Anita), of Boise, Idaho; grandchildren: Chris, Amanda, and Daniel; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Walter; daughter, Jean; sister, Marjorie Trotter Langenhop; and brother, John G. Liggett, of Roundup, Montana. Burial arrangements will be private.