When an elderly person passes away, it is often the case that few, if any people remain alive who remember any of the accomplishments, dreams, and experiences of these people it is very difficult to prepare eulogies which are meaningful and realistic for the person who has passed on.

I had a dear friend who used to say, "It is not what you've done, it's what you've done lately that counts. This is the situation that Irene finds herself in at her funeral. There are few people alive who know what she did or accomplished during her life and she hasn't been physically able to accomplish too much lately, so most of us don't know too much about her life when she was young and active.

As I looked at the beautiful smile of the young Irene in the one picture used in her obituary, I was impressed with the joy with which she apparently approached her life. I believe as a woman, she had her priorities right. To Irene her family was first and she did everything she could to raise her children to be productive, happy, and good citizens of their various communities. She read to them, instructed, supported and encouraged them to make the most of their opportunities.

She was a good woman and a beloved wife of her dear Jack. She and Jack had a very hospitable home where many friends and relatives were welcomed, fed and urged to stay, if a bed was needed. I think many people thought and may still think that Jack was totally responsible for this hospitality, but while Jack was preparing delicious food for their guests, Irene was busy making them welcome. She loved to visit and was totally and genuinely interested in people. She delighted in trying to help people solve their problems and help them improve themselves. This urge she had to help people improve themselves sometimes didn't go over too well with her immediate and extended family, but she usually persisted because she had great confidence that she knew what was best for all of us.

Irene was raised in the LDS church and she was an active member all her life until she reached the point where she was pretty much homebound. I don't know in what positions she held, but I am sure she probably served in all the women's and children's auxiliaries at one time or another in her life. Family and church were first in her life and she served each of these well. Proverbs 40. Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. She will do him good and not evil all the days of his life. She stretches out her hand to the poor; yea, she reaches out her hands to the needy."

Irene's consuming love and interest in the outside world was her teaching profession. She taught in the public school system for at least 35 years and she was recognized by parents, fellow teachers and administrators as an excellent and outstanding teacher of young children. I happened to teach in Grantsville High school in 1963-64 while Irene was teaching 1st or 2nd grade. The principal was over both elementary and high school so he knew both of us and our teaching well. One day he said to me that he had rarely seen a teacher with better group rapport than I and that he had never seen any teacher with as good one on one rapport with her students as Irene. She loved to teach these little ones and she did the best she could with each one. She encouraged, consoled, instructed, disciplined with love and authority, and tried her best to give them the help and instruction that they needed. "If Ye have done it unto the least of these thy brethren ye have done it unto me." At one time she had a small boy in her class who gave her all sorts of discipline problems, but he always managed to soften her heart because at the end of each day, as he left her classroom he would sing "Good Night Irene, Good Night"

She was a mentor to many people in her life and she loved to help others. Jackie Bezzant told me that in her first year of teaching in Grantsville Elementary, she was assigned a mixed class of 2nd and 3rd graders which is a difficult task for a veteran teacher let alone a beginner. She said that Irene came immediately to her rescue providing lesson plans, visual aids, books, advice, help with discipline problems and generally made it possible for Jackie to avoid a nervous breakdown. It was Irene's joy to help.

Marge Stam said she was able to get her job at the school because of Irene's help and recommendation.

Irene not only loved her immediate family, she loved her extended family. My daughter Sherrie Renlund said that she remembers loving to go over from our house to visit with Irene because she was always genuinely interested in Sherrie and she felt this love and interest. Irene always wanted to know all about what was going on in the lives of everybody.

She honored her father Paul Wrathall and her mother Carrie Wrathall and did her best to help them or make Jack help them in the years they lived as neighbors. She especially connected with her father and tried to emulate his good qualities. Both her parents set very high standards for her to follow. She loved them dearly as well as her grandparents, all of whom she knew well.

She also had a great interest in genealogy and had a beautiful collection of pictures of both Wrathall and Millward ancestors, as well as pictures of her family, extended family and friends. She was always willing to share information or pictures with anyone who needed them.

Because there were 8 years difference in our ages, I didn't really know Irene well until our parents were called to serve a mission in Hawaii, and our family came out to live in their home and take care of the farm and animals. Those years living next door to each other was a great opportunity to get to know each other well. After our parents passed away we had to work together to take over the management of the farm and Wrathall Estate again. Whether it was due to the good genes our parents gave us or the excellent training and values they gave us, I am happy to say that for about 25 years of working together Irene and I supported and helped each other with absolutely no harsh words or bad feelings existed in our relationship. Our sister Saradele also supported us in what we did. Early on Jack and Irene took care of the farm but later as their strength failed I took over.

Then later when I was working hard with attorneys and real estate agents for several years, trying to sell the farm, I never heard either sister say anything like, "I wish you hadn't agreed to that", or "You shouldn't have done this", "That was a mistake", or any other criticism. They only expressed appreciation for my efforts.. This was a great blessing for me and John who helped me sell the farm. I very much appreciated this support and help.

It is always hard to lose a loved one, but Jack's recent death and now Irene's passing is to me the end of a generation, the end of and era. An era of Rook games, shared Thanksgivings, Grantsville 4th-of-July parades, attending Missionary Farewells and Homecomings as well as baptisms and blessings of each others families, trips to Wendover, sharing wonderful meals in each other's homes, pleasant visits on the patio... It is over too soon.