Irmgard Iral's Obituary
Irmgard A. Iral “Beloved Mom & Nana”
Irmgard A. Iral (Irmgard Anna Rosina Frei) was born on December 24, 1938 in Schwetzingen, Germany to Edwin and Alice Katharina Frei. She passed peacefully of natural causes at 84 years young on March 29, 2023.
Irmgard lived in Schwetzingen for all her formative years. She grew-up during World War II and would often need to take shelter during air raids when she was very young. She lost her father during the war while he was serving in the German Army in Greece. Despite these early tragedies, she would continue to have a normal upbringing. As a young child she would often help her grandfather go into the forest to forage for mushrooms which instilled in her a lifelong love of mushrooms, dwarves, and all the charming animals that lived in the forest. This love has been passed-down to her children and grandchildren who share her love of the forest and mountains. As a young adult, she apprenticed with Frau Reis to become a hairdresser and worked in her salon where she found wonderful friends and a profession she greatly enjoyed.
Irmgard met her husband, Romero Cortes Iral, during his military service in Heidelberg, Germany, and they married on December 31, 1957 in Schwetzingen, Germany. Son, Romero George Iral, was born a year later and daughter, Valerie Alice Iral, was born 10 years later. Eventually, husband Romero received orders back to the United States and the family relocated. Over the course of Romero’s military career, the family lived in North Carolina, California and Fort Lewis, in Washington State multiple times. As Washington state is so similar to Germany, Irmgard wanted the family to put roots down there and bought the current family house in Lakewood. Eventually Romero would go on an overseas deployment to Ansbach, Germany, but Irmgard and the children remained in Washington so that the children could stay in their schools. They spent the summers going to Germany until Romero’s 2-year assignment in Germany concluded and he returned back to Fort Lewis.
Irmgard was very active with the large community of German ladies in Lakewood who also had husbands that served in the US Army and forged a lifelong network of friends. A consummate hostess, Irmgard always threw parties for her friends which made such an impression, her daughter Valerie continues to host parties for her friends and chose “event planning” as her career. Irmgard particularly enjoyed helping Valerie with the big summer tea parties she would host for her “Blythe doll” friends in her garden. These same friends all noted how Irmgard was “a mom to all of us.”
Irmgard instilled a strong work ethic in her children, Romero and Valerie, by always making sure to do things the proper way with no shortcuts. She kept an organized, tidy but also exceedingly comfortable home. She would also prepare coffee and “something baked” for friends and family who would visit and would always set a lovely table. Her love of classical music, particularly Beethoven, lives through her children who share her love of classical music.
Her ultimate passion, though, was her family. She was a devoted mother to Romero and Valerie and all the family pets through the years and a devoted and beloved Nana to her grandchildren. She loved nothing more than to cook and bake for her family. Her children and grandchildren continue making her recipes, particularly the Filipino food she would make for our dad and the beloved Linzer Torte (“Jam cake”) and butter and spritz cookies. It always made her incredibly happy to hear her grandchildren were cooking or baking her recipes.
Irmgard also loved to travel. She was almost more excited than son Romero, upon hearing of Romero’s assignment to London, UK when Romero was in the US Navy. In addition to spending time with her son in London, she enjoyed visiting the sites with the whole family including Southern England, Belgium and France. Valerie and Irmgard would frequently travel to Germany to visit family and friends and visited France, Italy and other places in Europe. For Romero and Irmgard’s 50th wedding anniversary, they took the entire family to Paris and then through-out France and Germany for a once in a lifetime trip that was an amazing experience and magical time. Irmgard also traveled to Japan with Valerie on two occasions and was equally enchanted with that country.
Irmgard is survived by her son Romero & Helen (Daughter-in-Law); daughter Valerie; and beloved grandchildren Heather & John Gianfrancesco (Son-in-Law), Colleen Iral & Will Barnwell (Son-in-Law), Jay Iral, and Shannon Iral…and her beloved West Highland Terrier, Keira.
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