Irene Wu

Irene Wu was born Irene Sun to Sarah Lee and Shih Ming Sun on May 1st, 1941 in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, China. She was born during World War II, when food was scarce, and conditions were dire. Her mother had to carry baby Irene into the caves whenever the alarms warned of approaching Japanese bombers.

After World War II ended, the family moved back to Tianjin, China in eastern China. However in 1948, the Sun family followed Irene's father to Tainan, Taiwan to escape the Communist government of Mainland China. Here, Irene grew up and was the oldest of 4 siblings: Irene, David, Eleanor, and Tiffany.

In 1959, the Sun family again followed her father and immigrated to the United States. They settled down in Cleveland, Ohio. Irene was a senior in high school and did well in mathematics.

By 1960, Irene attended Kent State University with the intention of becoming a math teacher. Here, she met Harry Wu who would become her husband on June 23rd, 1961.They have two children: Eva and Walter. Irene loved her children very much.

From 1964 to 1966 the Wu family lived in Massillon, Ohio and following that, from 1966 to 1968, the Wu family lived in Piqua, Ohio.In 1968 Harry Wu was hired as the director of the St. Clair County Library and the Wu family moved to Port Huron, Michigan.

On October 17, 1972 Irene became a registered nurse and worked at Port Huron Hospital (now known as McLaren Hospital). Irene started in the Intensive Care Unit until 1993 and later went to work in the Cardiac Telemetry Unit until December 31st, 2004.

Irene went on multiple trips to several destinations while she was still working and in retirement.

She cared for Harry who had a stroke in 2018 until he passed away in 2019.In October of 2021, Irene moved down to North Carolina to live with her son, Walter.

In May of 2024, Irene became sick with multiple illnesses and passed away peacefully on July 19th, 2024 in her sleep at the Sunrise Assisted Living Facility with her sister, Eleanor, at her side.

Irene is survived by her children, Eva and Walter; Eleanor and Tiffany (sisters), David (brother), and several nieces and nephews.

The family honors the memory of Irene on Saturday, August 24th, 2024 at 2:00PM at the Brown-Wynne funeral home in Cary, NC.