Irene Rita Krystyniak

Irene Rita (Hebert) (Cushing) Krystyniak, 99, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her loving family, on May 28, 2025. Born on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1926, in Amesbury, Massachusetts, Irene grew up in Methuen and Lawrence, Massachusetts, and spent her adulthood in Lawrence before moving to Chelmsford, Massachusetts, where she spent her final years. Irene's greatest joy in life was her family. Her gentle wisdom, calm spirit, and open heart shaped her family's lives in immeasurable ways.
She was the family matriarch, known fondly as Mom, Babci, Grammy, and simply the Queen. She always chuckled when called that because, although partial to fancy tea parties, she considered herself just an ordinary woman, the furthest thing from royalty!
Irene was a devoted mother who was widowed at the age of 36. She found solace and comfort at the ocean, being soothed by the crashing surf at Salisbury Beach. She inspired a similar love of the ocean in all her descendants. In fact she spent a wonderful vacation trip in 2024 with family on the beach at Seabrook.
A lifelong lover of music and the arts, Irene had many fond memories of accompanying family to wonderful performances in Boston, including Blue Man Group, Man of LaMancha, and Shen Yun, attending organ concerts at the Methuen Memorial Music Hall, and exhibits at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Another standout memory was a four-day trip to Disney World with Eileen, about which she frequently reminisced. She was a terrified flyer, and she was so proud to overcome that fear to make that trip!
Irene was a beautiful soul-gentle, gracious, and quietly radiant. A lifelong caregiver, she left school before her high school graduation to take a job to help support and care for her four brothers. She met her future husband Richard through a dear friend and coworker at the Ayer Mill. He was returning from participating in World War II. It was love at first sight, and they were married after a brief courtship.
Tragically, she was just 36 when her husband died, leaving her to raise a lively family of four on her own. Through that terrible loss, Irene was a calm, steadying force that inspired a "family-first" attitude that persists among her generations of descendants.
She worked many jobs throughout her life, including several years as an assembler and solderer at MaCom, but her favorite role was clearly as the family caregiver. She brought her elderly father, fondly known as Pepere, to live with her in his later years. She was the model of patience and kindness as she cared for him for over 20 years.
Irene is survived by her daughters, Kathleen Thompson (Husband Alan), and Eileen Cushing-Craig (Husband Charles), sons Richard Cushing (Wife Joan) and Michael Cushing and his devoted partner Linda Perez. She leaves behind nine beloved grandchildren: Heather Thompson, Rachel Thompson, Jennifer Cushing, Sabrina Cushing, Jacqueline Cushing, Danielle Cushing, Kimberly Cushing, Kelsey Bennett, and Christopher Craig. She was the beloved great-grandmother to Tracey and Victor Madden, and Leilani Gonzalez, and great-great-grandmother to Charlie Madden. She is also survived by her loving brother, A. Donald Hebert, and his wife Betty of Contoocook, NH; and many nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved deeply.
She was predeceased by her husband Richard Cushing in 1964, her parents Eva and Arthur Hebert, a sister Rachel, and three beloved brothers, Armand, Roland, and Robert Hebert.
Visiting hours will be held from 6:00pm until 8:00pm on Tuesday June 3 at John Breen Memorial Funeral Home, 122 Amesbury St., Lawrence, MA 01841. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 4 at 11:00am at St. Theresa Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, 22 Plymouth St, Methuen, MA 01844.