Submitted by: Mary Jo Koran

SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE – November 11, 2002

Irene M. Pauwels

April 25, 1917 – November 8, 2002

SOUTH BEND – Irene M. Pauwels (nee Wojtysiak) of Holy Cross Care & Rehabilitation Center, formerly of North Johnson Street, died at 12:30pm on Friday, November 8, 2002. She was preceded in death by her husband Gerard and three grandchildren: Daniel Pauwels, Jeffrey Pauwels and Sarah Starczewski. She is survived by seven children: Kenneth (Marie) Pauwels of Chapel Hill NC, Christine Pauwels of South Bend; Michael (Mary) Pauwels of Austin TX; Lawrence (Vicki) Pauwels of Mishawaka, Mary (Mike) Pauwels Abaray of Evansville IN; Catherine Pauwels Stradtner of Jasper IN and Leo (Teresa) Pauwels of South Bend. She is also survived by seventeen grandchildren: Amy Starczewski; Lucas, Lara, Monica & Hugh Pauwels; Robert & Andrea Pauwels; Damon, Emily & Noah Abaray; Meredith, Paige, Whitney & Jordan Stradtner; Kathryn & Patrick Ball and Rachel Pauwels. She is also survived by three great grandchildren: Andrew, Justin and Ethan Pauwels.

Irene graduated by South Bend Central High School and she attended Ivy Tech College in South Bend. She was a lifelong member of St Stanislaus Parish and was the director and teacher of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. She was a member of the Legion of Mary, the parish council, the Altar and Rosary Society, and she never missed a day of Mass.

Irene was a neighborhood institution and everyone’s grandma. She was a bright and capable homemaker, an avid reader, and the backyard birds’ best friend. She was adored by a neurotic poodle Max. She had kind words and cookies for every neighbor, a snack for the mailman, $2 for every missionary appeal, and a Goodwill and St Vincent DePaul bag every six months. She was a renowned cook who could make grown men cry for her breads and pies, but alas, she took the secret of her potato pancakes to her grave. She was the original recycler who could find more re-uses for plastic bags than the cleaners. Her budget book was a Greenspan economic marvel. Gerard’s paycheck was stretched tortuously to support a family of ten who knew no want and enjoyed all of life’s goodness. Together Irene and Gerard reared a computer guru, two registered nurses, a telecommunications systems analyst, an electrical engineer, an English teacher and a transportation manager. Better that that, her seven children learned that family is paramount and they should always love each other. Lovingly submitted by seven best friends, her children, the Pauwels family.

Visitation will be on Monday, November 11, 2002, from 2 to 8pm at St Joseph Funeral Home, 824 W. Mayflower Road. A Rosary will be prayed at 7pm. Funeral services will be on Tuesday, November 12, 2002, at 10am at St Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Church. Burial will be in St Joseph Cemetery, South Bend.