Ida Jane Nystrom

Holden - Ida Jane (Quackenbush) Nystrom, 78, beloved wife of James B. Nystrom, passed away peacefully in the comfort of her home, surrounded by her family, on Wednesday, September 17, 2025.

Ida lived a rich and adventurous life, from her origins in her beloved Mohawk Valley to her later years in New England. Ida grew up in Mohawk, NY where her family had lived for multiple generations. She lived most of her life in Holden, MA, spending summers at her family camp in the Adirondacks.

The track of Ida’s life was greatly influenced by the time she spent at her family’s cherished camp in the southern Adirondacks, a log cabin built in 1918 by one man with a horse and a pulley. Enjoyed by five generations of Ida’s family, Morehouse Lake inspired her love of the outdoors, including hiking, canoeing, cross-country skiing, and watching loons and hummingbirds from the front porch.

Ida was a proud alum of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. At Mount Holyoke she developed life-long friendships and a love of tradition and life-long learning. Her connection to the college continued through volunteering with her class.

Following in her mother’s footsteps with her interest in history and genealogy, Ida spent countless hours uncovering records and discovering new family connections. She traced her roots from the Dutch settlers of New York, to the Mayflower and the American Revolution, becoming a member of the Mayflower Society and the Daughters of the American Revolution. In her work she was an educator at heart, inspiring schoolchildren to appreciate history through her many years in the Museum Education Department of Old Sturbridge Village.

Ida loved reading throughout her life. Her shelves were overflowing with books of all types. She often had two or three books going at a time and enjoyed talking about books with friends. One of her most frequent questions, was “are you reading anything good?”. Ida enjoyed expressing her creativity through crafts and she passed those interests along to her daughters. She was a weaver at heart, creating beautiful pieces of utilitarian art that will be treasured in the years to come.

Ida’s outdoor adventures started with her high school ski club. Her pursuit of great skiing then led her to drive non-stop cross-country to Aspen with her college friends and future husband of 56 years, Jim, who she convinced to join the trip twice. Ida hiked 40+ 4,000-foot peaks in New Hampshire, as well as several High Peaks in the Adirondacks. Later in life, she hiked regularly with three groups in the Wachusett area. She very much missed hiking with these friends in her last year.

Ida’s love of nature and travel led her to bicycle across the country with a group of adventurous women in 2006. She went on to be a board member with two national cycling groups and participated in more than 50 bicycling tours, including many rides in the States and Canada, as well as traveling overseas to ride through Europe, Africa, Asia and New Zealand. She greatly enjoyed riding with friends and seeing new countries up close from the seat of a bike. Ida loved the process of researching and planning bike trips and led many bicycle tours, from a recreation of the Bicycle Adventure Club’s first trip around New England, to rides on the Cape and Islands, and her favorite tour in Cooperstown, NY.

Her crowning accomplishment was her three daughters, all with graduate degrees and successful careers in different areas of environmental protection.

Ida was born in Ilion, NY and was predeceased by her parents, Ida Jane (Hammond) and John P. Quackenbush. She is survived by her husband, James and her three daughters, Elizabeth, Sarah and Lindsay.

Relatives and friends are invited to gather with the family from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 28 in the Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main Street, Holden. A service to honor and celebrate her life will follow at 4 p.m. in the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Broken Tail Rescue of Millbury and to pancreatic cancer research organizations.