Irene was educated at Askes, showed a natural aptitude for acting - she was an accomplished mimic - and was offered a place at RADA which she decided not to take up but instead went out to work. She met her husband Brian when she was 17, they married when she was 21 and they went on to have two children Jane and Claire. She went to work for Lewisham Council initailly as a filing clerk but by the time she retired was Pensions Manager. Although in later life she battled with Rheumatoid Arthritis she remained funny, cheerful and astute. She loved to visit her Daughter Claireand Claires husband Phil and their children in the USA, enjoyed holidays with Brian and Joan and Jean and their husbands Phil and Ray, kept completely up to date with current affairs, in particular financial news and was, at all times, smiling. She died at the Princess Royal University Hospital on Sunday 30th August, just over one week after her 69th birthday. She should have had many years ahead of her but the cruel disease that she had fought agianst for so long masked the early symptoms of cancer and it was too late to do anything by the time it was discovered. We all miss her terribly but know that where she is now she is pain free and smiling. This site has been set up to commemorate and celebrate her life, please add a thought if you wish and use the donation link to make a donation to the Arthritis Research Campaign, we are asking for family flowers only at the funeral and this was a charity close to Mums heart. Many thanks, Jane