Irene Grace Lyle Hill

Irene Hill, age 95, passed away peacefully Monday, Oct 20, 2025 at her home in Worth, Illinois, a home she has lived in for 70 years. She joins her late husband, Robert, who passed in 2004. She is survived by her daughter Jeri-Lynn, sons Bob and David, their spouses, nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, an extended family she loved dearly, and all of the many close friends she loved as-if they were family.

Irene was born on March 9, 1930 to Edward and Ola Lyle in Cass, West Virginia. She was one of 12 kids. Her father died when she was eight, and her mother passed only eight years later. Just a few years after her father died, Irene and her sister Genevieve ("GeeBee") joined their older sister Jerie in Chicago. The three remained inseparably close until the very end, wreaking havoc on penny slots, cheap wine, and card decks. Irene met Robert Hill and the two were married by the time Irene was 20. Robert started a Texaco auto repair shop in Riverdale, which he ran until retirement. As a testament to both her support of Robert's interests and her unyielding commitment to spoiling her three children, Irene's kids received a Camero, a Nova, and an El Camino for their 16th birthdays.

Irene worked at Marshall Field's department store for decades, but her real full-time job was loving life and creating memories with the family and friends she shared it with. While no obituary could contain an exhaustive list of memories, we'd be doing a disservice to Irene if we didn't at least call out some highlights- The endless progressive rummy games, thanksgiving dinners, pink stuff, kids tables and dining room laughter, christmas morning mystery gifts with matching pajamas and piles of empty Marshall Field's boxes, ice-cubes-in-jugged-white-wine, summiting paradise island in the backyard pool, California trips, summer mornings enjoying high quality Tasters' Choice coffee on the patio while eating all the blueberry buckle a stomach allowed, Cousins Camp, Frank Sinatra dances, the more "choreographed" dancing in the garage, road trips with best friend Irene (#2), William Tell's indoor pool, water beds and Bozo's ice cream, more card games, 5 cousins in the front seat of the Buick, tree houses and tire swings, cows and apples and cows and apples and still more cows, Gracie and Stellie perched on the couch, a garden in full bloom, kids falling out of hammocks, forced second helpings, Plush Horse decadence, endless picnics, swinging on swings and climbing trees, Burrito Bernie's, cozy winter fires, hiding underneath the kitchen table or between cloth racks in Marshall Fields, sneaky trips to Fanny May while parents shopped for employee-discounted back-to-school clothes, 50th anniversary and 90th birthday parties, food pantry volunteering, a contagious smile, hikes around Lake Catherine and Little Red School House, more cards and white wine, so much tuna salad, "that's too much" while refusing to accept the smallest generosities, money slipped in pockets, catching blue gills and sun fish, Cubs games and Blackhawks and Bears oh my, backyard wiffle ball and frontyard football and driveway roller hockey and walks to the park, the "it's beautiful" tears followed by cookie comments, drives to the emergency room after schoolyard fights, Granny Goose or GG, getting picked up from jail or the school bus or preschool, baking lessons in the kitchen, generations of cookies shipped everywhere from Orange County to Africa and Amsterdam, endless patience for the kids, meaningful long-distance texts typed with a single finger, honest and heart-led guidance, a final 95th birthday party, and still, always time for more cards.

These memories are the varied pieces of a life that was shaped by Irene's overarching faith in both the goodness of people and the unconditional love of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This faith was nourished every morning with her quiet time reading the Bible while sharing a banana with Stellie. It was constantly on display, experienced by others as her eternal optimism, positivity, gratitude, and relentless perseverance. She was a great listener and encourager, which endeared her to everyone she met. She was more stubborn in her love than in her ways (which is truly saying something). Her generosity was indiscriminate and seemingly limitless. Her constant smile was a window into her deep joy, and that joy fueled a love that spans families and generations. Her physical time with us may have come to an end, but that love is eternal.

The family appreciates donations made to the Palos United Methodist Church Food Pantry: https://palosumc.com/food-pantry