Mary Victoria Cuda

Mary Victoria (Ferrera) Cuda passed away on Nov. 26, 2022 at her home in Prescott, Arizona. She was 86 years old. She will be remembered most for her love of family, her faith, and her American-Italian heritage.

Born in Vicalvi, Italy on June 18, 1936 to Alessandra (Petitta) and Raffaele Ferrera, Mary survived WWII alongside her mother in their small town while her brother and father were in the United States. Mary and her mom made passage to the U.S. in 1947 and she proudly became a U.S. citizen in 1955.

In Dearborn, Michigan, she was employed at National Bank, where she met fellow employee and the love of her life, Gerald (Jerry) Cuda. Breaking the tradition of arranged marriages, they married each other in 1957. Together they moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where they raised their children and hosted many large Italian meals for family and friends. The family spent weekends and summers at their Ponderosa Park (Prescott) cabin, eventually moving from Phoenix to a 40-acre parcel they purchased “way out” in Williamson Valley (Prescott); she loved telling friends that her address was “One Mile Past White Dome, Campwood Star Route.” Here, Mary continued raising her youngest children, tended farm animals, grew fruit trees and vegetables in her large garden, and marveled at God’s beautiful land.

Deeply religious, Mary was always very active in her parishes: Most Holy Trinity (Phoenix), Sacred Heart (Prescott) and St. Catherine LaBoure (Chino Valley). In her later years, she valued particularly the friendship of the “Ladies of St. Catherine.”

Mary was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years (Jerry Cuda), her brother (Adelio Ferrera), and one grandchild (Michelle Jackson). She is survived by her eight children: Angelina Happ (Don), Frank Cuda (Amy), Sandina Evans (Chuck), Maria Cuda, Ralph Cuda, Christina Robertson (Joseph), Geraldina Laing and Valentina Kosik (Daniel); 10 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and her extended family in Italy.