Irene G. Alva

Alva, Irene Guerrero 2/14/1934 – 6/15/2025
Irene Guerrero Alva passed away on June 15th, 2025 at the age of 91. In her later years, Irene worked through chronic heart issues and vascular dementia. Born on Valentine's Day 1934 to Porfiria and Emiliano Guerrero, she was married to Henry Alva for 63 years. Irene was predeceased by siblings Pauline, Lucy, Lupe, Margaret, Minnie, Ruby, Louis, Emil, Robert, Leroy, Eugene and one living sister – Marianne. Irene created a legacy of family: children - Valerie (Russ) Beaudeon, Henry (Ashley) Alva, Elizabeth (Jack) Hudson, Connie (Paul) Lopez, Sandy (Craig) Kocur and Raquel Alva; grandchildren - Mannion Beaudeon, Evan (Eva) Alva, Kurtis (Sarah) Alva, Gabriel Alva, Abigail Alva, Aubrey Alva, David Balzer, Elizabeth Calhoun, Kameron Lopez, Christopher Mendyk, Jennifer (Brad) Moore, Jackson Kocur and Alec Kocur; greatgrandchildren – Ayden and Alexandra Alva, Jacob and Jacquelyn Calhoun, Cora and Cleveland Moore, Kurtis Henry Grover Alva (KJ) and JoyAnn Barbara Alva; as well as an abundance of loved ones including the Guerreros, Alvas, Sanchezes, Lois (Schantz) Robertson who treasured her dearly, neighborly friends, Catholic Diocese of Saginaw members and caretakers.
Irene embodied being kind and helping others while also being a dedicated wife, mother, grandmother and sister. As a devout Catholic, she began her career at the St. Joseph's Catholic Parish, helped people legally immigrate to the USA and find jobs (which gave her significant satisfaction) and diligently worked her way to become the Assistant Mission Director of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw. Irene took pride in her work and was a wise, savvy businesswoman who always remained humble. Through her work, she traversed the world to help those in need and worked with Mother Theresa. She also loved to dance (passionately), the NBA (an ardent Pistons fan) and the Detroit Lions. Her favorite color was purple – a detail it would be remiss not to mention. Irene's presence will be missed immensely and felt by all through her love that remains present in those that had the joy of knowing her. Irene's cremains will be interred at a later date at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan. Her cremains visitation is at 9 am, June 27th followed by Mass at 10 am and will be held at the Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in St. Charles, Michigan with a Celebration of Life at McGeehan Funeral Home after.
In kind donations in honor of Irene may be made to the Dementia Society of America (www.dementiasociety.org) and Mary of the Immaculate Conception church (www.maryimmaculateconception.org).
In honor of her contribution to serving those in need, in lieu of flowers for the funeral mass, the family asks that you gift bath towels or nonperishable food and they will distribute them to those in need. This will be her final act of service