Irene Slabinski

Irene "Renee" Slabinski

July 9,1935-April 12, 2025

Irene Slabinski, affectionately known as "Renee" to her friends and family, passed away on April 12,2025 peacefully in her sleep surrounded by her family, leaving behind an unforgettable legacy of grace, strength, and unwavering devotion. Her memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew her.

Irene is survived by her devoted family-daughters Brenda Fuller and Teka Bartter, her son Britt Slabinski, five cherished grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Each of them carries a piece of her spirit:her wisdom, her love, and the example she set throughout her life.

To those who knew her best, Irene was more than just a mother and grandmother-she was a teacher of life. Her children remember most of the lessons she taught not through words, but through action: the courage she showed in the face of adversity, the resilience with which she met challenge, and the compassion she extended freely, even to strangers. These were not just values she held, but ways she lived-and passed on to those she raised.

Irene's work ethic was formidable and deeply rooted in a belief that nothing worthwhile came without effort. She taught her children to show up, do the hard things, and keep going-always with integrity, and a quiet strength. She believed that how you did something mattered just as much as what you did.

She found joy in life's simple pleasures: a cheese Danish with her morning coffee, the suspense of Murder,She Wrote, the thrill of Bingo, and the satisfaction of bowling a good frame. She was a gifted baker and cake decorator, always making birthdays feel magical with her lovely crafted desserts. Her hands created beauty-through knitting, sewing, and the clothes she made for her children with care.

She loved music and concerts, quiet walks in the park with her Papillon dogs, and the peaceful ritual of tending to her rose bushes. Summers brought her to the Rhode Island coast, where she found serenity sitting on the beach and the joy in family camping trips-moments she treasured deeply.

Irene was warm, witty, and endlessly loving. Her humor had a way of lifting spirits of everyone around her. But above all, she saw her greatest accomplishments in the lives of her children and grandchildren-who were, in her words, her true legacy.

As we grieve the loss of Irene, we also celebrate the remarkable life she lived-a life defined by strength, heart, and the quiet courage of a woman who showed us how to love, endure, and persevere. Her spirit lives on in every kind act, every hand-sewn gift, every rose in bloom-and in the family she loved.

Services will be held at Czelusniak Funeral Home in Northampton Ma.

Please see the Czelusniak Funeral Home website for date and time