IRENE PRUS ADDAMS

ADDAMS
IRENE PRUS
Born on September 7, 1925, was the youngest of six children born to Eva and Louis Prus in Pittsburgh. She died on April 27, 2015. Irene was a force of nature, an indefatigable friend and volunteer who earned the nickname Cruise Director for her relentless energy and determination. She devoted her life to volunteer work for her churches, her children's schools and Polish organizations. She loved God, laughter, song, dance, and Poland. She taught her children to relentlessly pursue perfection, to never give up and to wring the most out of every opportunity. She showed them how to turn nothing into something. She taught them to love each other fiercely, even when they disagreed. Her most cherished role was as unofficial First Lady of the Central Council of Polish Organizations, later known as the Polish Cultural Council (PCC). She earned the title after her husband, Col (ret) Merle Addams became President of the PCC in 1989. Merle's intelligence and wit, combined with Irene's vision and perseverance, made them invincible as a team, each with complementary strengths. Together, they were inspired to increase membership, participation, financial contributions and showcase the culture of Poland to the larger community. Irene's activities for the PCC are countless and legendary. During more than 35 years in fundraising for the Polish Cultural Council, she was responsible tor raising more than $500,000. She was the heart and soul of the Bal Polonaise, the driving force behind converting the event from a traditional cotillion to a grand debutante ball. The PCC presented more than 200 accomplished, beautiful young women of Polish heritage to society through the years. Irene identified and recruited every one of them, also overseeing the theme, design and decorations for the event and securing hundreds of auction items. For more than 25 years, she co-chaired Polish Day at Kennywood Park with her husband, Merle. At the same time, she chaired the fundraising and advertising committee, and served on the committee responsible for decorations at the Polish Day kitchen and stage at the park. When Irene began assisting with advertising for the program book in 1980, she set an unprecedented advertising sales record, more than doubling the number of ads in the previous book. Her relentless work resulted in a program book four times its original size. With her son-in-law, she was the inspiration and energy behind expanding the Karuzela Polish American Folk Ensemble by adding the Karuzela Chorus. Later, she and her friend, Wanda Walat, formed the Zlota (golden) Karuzela with their senior friends, singing and dancing in the Polish Day program. She expressed her design sensibility in a number of outlets. She cultivated love of sewing as a teenager, making her own dresses. Irene became a master seamstress and designer, able to adapt standard dress patterns to accommodate her own style. Not only did she design mother-daughter dresses, she made matching doll dresses, even making a copy of her daughter's wedding gown for the bride's childhood bride doll. Irene took up flower arranging in the early I 960s, starting with a wicker mail basket and a bunch of rubber grapes. She brought such passion and learned skill to the hobby that she earned ribbons at local flower shows. She designed and crafted so many wreaths and arrangements that she developed arthritis in her fingers. That didn't stop her. Neighbors counted on seeing different wreaths on her doors during every season. Irene also loved hats, which she learned how to make and customize. She was never satisfied with hats from the store, embellishing them with ribbons and flowers to make them fit her style. Two years ago, Irene updated a hat she bought in 1956 at Frank & Seder, and her daughter wore it to a grandson's wedding. She was not an inspired cook, but she excelled at specialties - cakes, pies, jelly and piccalilli. Pies were her signature. She made a pie - always more than one - virtually every day, sharing them with friends, neighbors, the milkman, UPS driver and the produce managers at local markets. Recipients glowed when Irene presented them with her homemade pastry. Irene was a lifelong, active member of a number of Polish civic and cultural organizations. She joined the Polish Women's Alliance as a member of the youth dance group, where she performed at War Bond rallies during World War II, at Polish Women's Alliance (PWA) conventions and Polish Day celebrations at Kennywood and West View Parks. When she was 13 and 14 she won top honors two years in a row for selling the most Veteran's Day paper poppies on the streets of downtown Pittsburgh for the Central Council of Polish Organizations. Later in her life, she served as vice president of the PWA Council 2 and financial secretary of Lodge 177. She was a member of the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Polish Cultural Council, Polish National Alliance, Polish room committee at the University of Pittsburgh and a board member of the Polish American Congress. She was named Outstanding Polonian by the Kosciuszko Foundation in 2003 and Polonian of the Year by the PCC in 2009. It was at a Polish Women's Alliance Convention dance in Pittsburgh that she met her future husband, Merle (Adamiec) Addams. Too young to date, they courted by letter and telephone until Merle returned home from WWII. Married in 1948, they enjoyed more than 67 years of love and laughter. Theirs was a love story for the history books, a lifelong bond culminating with her death 30 days after he died on March 28, 2015. Irene graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1943 and was employed by the University of Pittsburgh as a secretary to the Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department until she married and resigned to raise her family. She and Merle lived in Allison Park for 51 years and were members of St. Ursula Parish, as well as Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish on Polish Hill. Irene Addams is survived by children, Jeannine Addams (Robert Coram), Dean Addams (Jane Addams), Evanne Addams (Chester Wawrzonek) and Kent Addams (Victoria Addams); and six grandchildren, Addam Wawrzonek (Becky Wawrzonek), Christian Wawrzonek, Evan Addams (Bethany Addams), Austin Addams, Jillian Addams and Christian Addams; and by her sisters, Frances Prus and Eugenia Fratangelo; her brothers, Edward and Joseph Prus; and her sister, Stephanie Balawejder died previously. Visitation Thurs. 2-5 and 6-9 p.m. at NEELY FUNERAL HOME, 2208 Mt. Royal Blvd., Glenshaw. Donations in honor of Irene Addams my be made to the Polish Cultural Council, P.O. Box 81054, Pittsburgh, PA 15217-0554. A funeral Mass will be celebrated in her memory at St. Ursula Church on May 1, 2015, at 10 a.m. Please visit us at:
neelyfuneralhome.com
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