Irene Smith

Irene Hellen Smith, 101, passed away peacefully on January 16, 2025. Preceded in death by her husband, John R Smith, Son, William F Smith, and daughter in-law, Karon Smith.

Irene is survived by her son, John T. Smith, grandchildren, Harrison and Parker (Jaimie) Smith, and great grandchildren, Archer, Indy and Otto; as well as her best friend, Joe Muños and many loving other relatives and friends.

Irene was born in Elk River, MN and lived and worked on her family's and neighboring farms until she left at the age of 14. She met the love of her life, Johnny (JR), on January 13 in 1943, and were married until his death in 2001. JR and Irene, moved to California and worked factory jobs during the war to support the effort. After the war ended, they returned to MN where they had their 2 children, John and Billy.

Irene and JR loved country music and dancing, spending many nights dancing at "the Flame" and meeting famous country singers. One of their favorite hobbies was traveling in their motor homes, to visit family and friends. Their love for this brought them to Pharr, TX, where in 1976 they developed the Tropic Star Park. They had a ball going back and forth from TX to MN. They loved to travel beyond just driving the motorhome, and took trips all around the world. Irene kept a small stone from all of the countries they visited and wrote the destination's name the back and kept them in a bowl that was almost full to the brim.

When JR passed away in 2001, Irene moved full time to Pharr, TX where she could be close to her friends whom she shared many fond memories with. She enjoyed taking trips to Progresso, MX to have lunch at Arturos and dancing to Mexican folk music at Galeria. She volunteered at a local school to help children learn to read. She also took time to help out an orphanage across the boarder in Mexico.

She loved playing poker with her family and even taught her grandkids how to play when they were 6 and 7. She also enjoyed playing mahjong with her friends and was so happy to share how many pennies she won after each game. Irene loved reading books and writing letters to her loved ones.

During her final years in TX, she spent time with her best friend, Joe, sharing stories over cocktails and dinner. A blessing for her to find someone to share each day with late in life.

Memorial service at Gearty-Delmore in Saint Louis Park, Saturday March 1, 2025 at 11am. Visitation will begin 1 hr prior to service. Reception will be at Warehouse Winery in Saint Louis Park immediately following there Service.