Irene Westby

Irene Mae Westby was born to Einar and Rose (Mathiason) Westby at their farm home near Fairdale, ND, on March 1, 1925. She attended school in Fairdale but took her senior year at Oak Grove Lutheran High School in Fargo, ND, where she graduated in 1945.

The following is her history in her own words which she had written for her 50th class reunion from Oak Grove in 1995: “Sometime after graduation, after having worked in Grand Forks, North Dakota, for a while, I decided I wanted to leave for the big city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was there that I spent most of my working years. One of my first jobs was in the dining hall at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. I believe it was only two or three school terms that I worked there, as I left toward the end of one of those terms to go home, as mother had had major surgery, and needed a little extra help following that. I later went back to the cities again and attended Lutheran Bible Institute for one year. I worked the next nine years at the Ebenezer nursing home there. The following years, I was in Grand Forks, attended Aakers Business College for a term, and worked at one of the university cafeterias. I became lonesome for the friends I had made in Minneapolis over the years and returned to the cities and worked the next 11 years at the Billy Graham Incoming Mail Department until my retirement in 1988.”

Following that, Irene moved to Moorhead, Minnesota, where she lived in the Parkview Apartments for over 20 years. Irene played the piano so nicely and was the pianist for the Thursday worship services at her apartment building for all those years.

In 2010, she moved to The Fairmont (Eventide Senior Living Community in Moorhead). In 2017, she moved to Eventide in Jamestown, where she died on May 13th, 2020.

Irene is survived by her sister, Joyce Weiss of Rapid City, SD; sister-in-law, Eva Westby of Langdon, ND; and many nieces and nephews.

Irene was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Raymond Westby of Langdon, ND; sister and brother-in-law, Norma and Gordon Berntson of Fargo, ND; and brother-in-law, Don Weiss of Sturgis, SD.

Memorials may be sent to St. Paul’s Free Lutheran Church in Fargo, New Hope Free Lutheran Church in Jamestown, or to the Aadalen Lutheran Church Cemetery Fund near Fairdale, ND where a graveside service will be held at 11:00 AM, Monday, June 15th, 2020.

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