Born in Beiseker, Alberta, her father, Ben Rau, his wife and five children moved to Vancouver in 1943. Irene took her nurses training at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, graduating in 1957. During her nursing career she worked in pediatrics and then in ICU-CCU in Penticton for many years.
Irene met Fergus O’Connor in a ferry line-up in March 1960 and they were married in November 1962. They spent 51 happy years together travelling to England to visit Fergus’s family, New Zealand, Baja Mexico, Africa and through all of BC hiking, hunting and cycling. They moved to the little community of Willowbrook in the Okanagan in 1976 and designed and built a two-storey log house. In 1993, they designed and built their final home together in Keremeos. When Fergus died in 2013, Irene moved to Powell River to be with her sister, Doreen Berrington.
Irene had a beautiful soprano voice, loved classical music and opera, and was a faithful supporter of PRISMA; she was a familiar face at music performances. Always beautifully attired in a dress or skirt (never slacks) with jewellery and lipstick in place and a big smile on her face, she was a classy lady.
Her mind was sharp and her memory perfect right until the end. She left us with a smile on her face. “Thanks for the fun. Sing a happy song when you think of me; the pain is gone.”
Thank you to the staff at Coastal Breeze Village for your heartfelt caring, especially in the last few days. Donations in her memory can be made to the Four Tides Hospice Society in Powell River.
