Irene M. Kessler

Irene M. Kessler (nee Brereton), age 87, beloved mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, went to heaven on a sunny, mild, Saturday morning, February 8, 2025, in the smokey mountain home she shared with her daughter, Eileen F. Kessler.

Irene M. Kessler was born September 1937 in Brooklyn, New York, to Jane and Peter Brereton, who had immigrated to the United States from Ireland. The second born of four children, Irene arrived into the world fifteen months after her sister Ann, which is humorously referred to as being an “Irish twin.”

Irene was an adorable child. Her thick, dark brown hair curled like 1930s child movie star Shirley Temple’s; when Irene smiled, which was often, her dimples were as cute as Shirley’s. Irene inherited her big, brown, soulful eyes from her loving mother and her cheerful disposition from her kindly father. Irene’s mother used to say that of her four children Irene worried her the least because of her gentle, easy-going and helpful nature.

Throughout her long life, Irene’s cheerful disposition and radiant smile lifted the spirits of all whom she met. Her friendly demeanor put people at ease; her striking beauty, natural charm, and elegant poise was equaled by her generosity, helpfulness, and kindness to all people. Irene was a helper. Whether helping her mother with house work, minding her younger siblings, or babysitting neighbor children, Irene was always there to lend a helping hand.

Irene was industrious and practical. During her teens she saved up money earned babysitting and purchased a second-hand sewing machine. Her aunt Kathleen taught her how to sew and cut patterns. Irene made her own clothes replicating popular fashions of the day. When Irene was first

married she made curtains for all the windows, slipcovers for two couches, dresses and mother-daughter outfits. She even created the baby-blue velvet bows worn by the bridesmaids attending her younger sister Lorraine’s wedding in 1969. Irene helped guide her teenage daughter in making her first (and only) skirt and blouse. Of course, being an accomplished seamstress, she finished the job. A few years later, Irene insisted upon making over the hoop skirt she had worn under her wedding gown in 1961 for her daughter to wear under her prom dress. When Eileen asked her mother why she wanted to do all that work, Irene answered, “Ilike doing it for you.”

Irene attended St. Joseph’s High School in Brooklyn, New York, studying bookkeeping, typing and stenography, skills she later applied in her career as a secretary. She was most proud of mastering stenography or “sten” and kept her original text book among her few keepsakes.

In the summer between her junior and senior year of high school Irene and her eldest sister Ann went on a great adventure and took a trip their first ever trip on an airplane to California. In the 1950s travel by plane, especially across country, was slow and arduous, requiring refueling and plane changes with long intervals of waiting in between, often in desolate airfields without access to food. Despite travel inconveniences, Irene and Ann’s excitement was bolstered by the prospect of seeing famous movie stars. In the lobby restaurant of their modest Hollywood hotel near Sunset and Vine, they did see one up-and- coming actor, Vic Morrow, eating breakfast just as they were. Irene liked the warm climate of Southern California and hoped to return there one day.

After Irene graduated from St. Josephs HS, she took a leap of faith and entered the convent. Her call to service brought her to an order in Massachusetts where she trained to become a missionary. Illness kept her from completing her period as a novitiate, but she kept her faith and expressed it by joyfully being of service to others throughout her life.

Irene and a friend went back to California this time to live in Long Beach with a third roommate. When her sister Ann asked her to be a bridesmaid at her wedding, Irene returned to Brooklyn and worked as a bookkeeper for Fairchild Publications in Manhattan (as had both her sisters). At a dance Irene met her one-and-only husband, Joseph Kessler. They were married in 1961 and welcomed their only child, daughter Eileen, into the world the following year.

A homemaker for thirteen years, Irene enjoyed caring for her family and her home, but found time to explore her creative side. The walls of her home were a gallery of her watercolor paintings. Irene painted in the style of the impressionists, reproducing the works of Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet and Degas. She painted original subjects as well, and a portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt whom she greatly admired. Irene loved to read and would frequent the local branch of the New York Public Library, checking out biographies and mystery novels, and introducing her young daughter a world of books and ideas.

Irene had other talents. She learned to play piano and sight-read music on her own. Many evenings she would sit down at the organ in the dining room and play and sing folk songs, old and new, from Stephen Foster’s “Swanee River,” “Oh! Susanna,” and “Beautiful Dreamer,” to Glen Campbell’s “Galveston,” “Everyday Housewife,” and “Gentle On My Mind.” Additionally, Irene was blessed with a beautiful singing voice and when her daughter was little would sing her to sleep with lullabies and contemporary songs like “Wooden Heart” (made popular by Elvis Presley), Pete Seager’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” and Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer.”

Three years after her divorce, Irene took a risk leaving all she knew and relocated with her teenage daughter to Southern California. With an introduction from her brother-in-law Tom Harrison, Irene interviewed for an administrative position with the prestigious J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency, and on her own merits, secured a job as executive secretary to the comptroller of west coast operations. At age forty, Irene bought her first car, a blue Chevy Chevette, for her ninety minute weekly commute (each direction) from San Gabriel to Century City. But as was Irene’s character, she never complained. “Working is a gift,” she said, “It is a gift to be able to earn your own living.” Irene found her work as a secretary interesting and always gave her professional best to her employers, greeting clients, including A-list celebrities, warmly with her welcoming smile, friendly voice and often more than not, a hot cup of coffee.

Irene put her daughter’s welfare above her own. Her decision to make such a dramatic move from coast to coast in mid-life was solely to be able to send her daughter to college, which she did.

One of the highlights of living in Los Angeles was hosting visits from family. Irene’s sister Ann, husband Vincent, and two daughters came to visit, as did Irene’s sister Lorraine, her husband Tom, and their two young children. Irene’s brother Dermot came out on a business trip. Aunt Kathleen flew out for Eileen’s high school graduation, and Irene’s parents made the long cross-country flight a year later. Although working full time, Irene gave up her bedroom to her parents and slept on the living room sofa. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Irene was delighted having her parents visit and to drive them all over greater L.A. sightseeing. Irene’s mother was pleasantly surprised when touring the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena they stumbled upon a movie location and met Cloris Leachman in hair curlers.

When her parents were ailing, Irene moved back to Brooklyn to be of help. While working full-time as an administrative assistant for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (where she had worked before moving to California) and then for an engineering firm in midtown Manhattan, Irene rode the subways over an hour each way and after work went to help her mother with her father who had Alzheimer’s disease. After her parents passed away, and the engineering firm folded, Irene searched for a nice place to retire and chose the beautiful, verdant, serenity of Western North Carolina’s Great Smokey Mountains, where she resided happily from 1996 until her death.

Irene once said that she loved working and missed being productive. In the Smokies she initially worked in a small tourist hotel. However, her real passion was in helping others and Irene found joy and purpose in volunteering at the Federal Hospital on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee. Irene enjoyed her years in the housekeeping department, earning commendations for her service. Also, she made a few good friends along the way.

In her later years, Irene reside in a cabin built for her by her son-in- law on the property she gifted to her daughter. For over a decade Irene suffered from a slow-growing tumor in the her right foot. In January 2024 Irene was diagnosed with a rare form of cartilage cancer and had surgery to remove her foot which after infection required an further surgery to amputate the lower leg below the right knee. Irene had been suffering from the deleterious effects of dementia when she succumbed to failing health on February 8, 2025. But even in her final months Irene asked what she could do to help. Irene, sitting in her wheelchair at the kitchen table, observing her daughter washing dishes would ask, “How can I help you?”

Irene’s dedication to helping others was the guiding principle of her life. Her cup runneth over (Psalm 23) with love for everything her daughter and caregiver did for her. Always polite and thoughtful, Irene expressed her gratitude to Eileen for the smallest kindness. Whether wheeling Irene from place to place, giving her a manicure, providing pain medicine, or making her something to eat, Irene was appreciative. Whenever Eileen would give her mom a sandwich, salad, or dinner, Irene would say, her face beaming, “That looks delicious! Thank you so much!” And as the day wore down, and Eileen tucked her mom into bed, five blankets up under her chin, Irene would look up from her pillow at her daughter and say, “Thank you for taking such good care of me.” Kissing her mom on the cheek Eileen whispered, “I love you mom.” “I love you Eileen,” Irene said softly as her daughter quietly closed the bedroom door.

Eileen was near her sweet and loving mother at the time of her passing, her light dimmed by life’s natural end. When asked where she wanted to go after she departed, Irene smiled brightly and answered happily, “I’m going to Heaven.” Upon hearing the news of her aunt Irene’s passing, her niece said, “Heaven has another angel.”

Irene is survived by her only child, Eileen Kessler-Gorton, sister Lorraine Harrison and brother Dermot Brereton and his wife Judy, as well as many nieces, nephews, and relations “across the pond” in Ireland. Irene is predeceased by her eldest sister Ann Catrini, and her parents. All who knew Irene loved her. Her innate kindness, unselfishness, and enthusiasm for living will be remembered by her family and those she met along her journey. Irene had a pure heart and generous spirt. She will be missed and loved forever.

Irene M. Kessler’s wish was to be cremated, and her ashes scattered throughout the mountains she loved. In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting scientific research on the study of the diseases of the human brain, specifically the causes and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia to which Irene, her father Peter Brereton, her eldest sister, Ann Catrini, and her younger sister’s husband Tom Harrison, succumbed.

Thank you for your support during Irene’s valiant recovery from two major surgeries last year, and her recent passing. I could never fully express my gratitude to family and friends who have opened their hearts and ears to me during this excruciatingly sad time.

With gratitude, 

Eileen F. Kessler

February 14, 2025

Her daughter, and care-giver, was with her when she passed. As her niece said upon hearing the news “Heaven has another angel.”