Obituary of Irene Greenwald

Irene was born on October 5, 1925, in Fort Morgan Colorado. Her parents were Johann Georg (George) and Maria Katharina (Reiber) Scheirman, both born in Kolb, Russia. They were Germans that settled along the Volga River in Russia under land grant opportunities provided by Catherine the Great. When the last Czar was losing control of the Russian government, all of the Germans living along the Volga lost their land and under duress were either forced into indenture or fled to the United States. Irene was the youngest of 6, Arthur (Art), Conrad (Connie), Hannah, Rudolph (Rudy), and Lavene (George). Her mother died when she was 11. She outlived all her siblings Irene loved to fish and loved the outdoors. She was quite an athlete and was voted the high school athlete of the year her senior year–not female athlete of the year, but athlete of the year. Irene was proud to finish high school, made all the more difficult because she was pulled out to work sugar beets for 6 weeks in the spring and in the fall. After graduation in 1943, she moved to Denver and lived for a time with her sister, Hannah, and brother-in-law. Irene met, who would become the love of her life, Herman Greenwald at a dance in January of 1945, while he was home on leave from the Navy during WWII. Their attraction was immediate and their courtship was quick. They had planned a summer church wedding, but with Herman’s leave being uncertain, they were married at Herman’s parents’ house on May 23rd, 1945. For the remainder of the war, the newlyweds were stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas. After the war Herman and Irene returned to Denver to begin their post-war life together and start their family. Irene continued to play semi-pro softball in Denver after the war. She was very proud to have played on a team that played in the world championship tournament in Phoenix in 1950. Her team came in second losing the deciding game with a score of 1-0 in a 17-inning battle. She played 3rd base (“The Hot Corner”) most of her career and, according to Herman, always either hit a home run, or struck out. In an interview about her and the softball ladies published in the Denver Post, she mentioned that she wished she could hit just one more home run. Irene worked most of her adult life for Public Service, Montgomery Wards, the US Navy (Civil Service Secretary), Morey Mercantile, Jeppeson & Company, and for her son, George. She enjoyed teaching her family how to fish and play games, especially cards of almost any variety. She enjoyed bending the rules and was even known to teach her great grand children the finer ways to “adapt” (cheat). Herman and Irene were married for 49 years and were able to travel after they retired. Herman died on October 23, 1992, and was buried with military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery. She resolved to live an active life without him, moving to Arizona for a time, and then back to Colorado. She was fiercely independent and continued to live her life on her own terms. One of her happiest memories was her 80th birthday party, her first birthday party just for her. After a brief illness Irene, died peacefully in her home on October 23rd, 2019. The connection between Irene and Herman carried right to the end. Both born on October 5th, 3 years apart, and both died on October 23rd, 27 years apart, within an hour of the same time –now together again forever. As she requested, her ashes will be buried at Fort Logan with his. Irene is survived by her two sons: George (Joan) and John (Becky), Four grandchildren: Erin Greenwald, Grey (Gina) Greenwald , Matthew (Ashley) Greenwald, and Sarah (Patrick) Caragher Ten great grandchildren: Devvon Glasenapp, Emily Glasenapp, Lauren Greenwald, Camryn Greenwald, Jocelynn Greenwald, Addelyn Greenwald, Nola Greenwald , Lael Greenwald, Élan Greenwald, and Cayden Kriger, And many nieces and nephews (each her favorite).