Irene was born May 4, 1931 to Joseph and Katherine Zarasua in Fresno, CA. The eldest of her siblings, she spent her early years helping to care for them. A city girl at heart, she enjoyed spending time with her expansive and close-knit family. She was attending San Joaquin Memorial High in her freshman year when her parents decided to move to a farm in West Fresno County.
She exchanged the trappings of city life for acres of cottonfields and vineyard, which she worked along with her family. She finished school at Central High, then desiring to become a stenographer she attended 4C’s College in Fresno. An avid movie lover, she worked part-time at movie theaters as a cashier.
It was at this time she met and married her first husband, Victor. They lived for a time with his family in Mexico, however Irene desired to return to the Central Valley. Still the movie lover, she found work in a drive-in theater. During this time, her first child, a daughter, was born. The marriage did not last however, and some years afterward she met the man she would spend the rest of her married life with.
Meeting during work at the drive-in, George Neves was a welder and mechanic. Irene changed jobs, working at Valley Industrial Laundry along with many friends and some that would end up as sisters-in-laws to her brothers. Irene and George moved from Fresno to Bakersfield and back before finally settling in Fresno in the latter 1960’s. Along the way they had two other children, and she settled into city life once again.
That was not to last however, as they bought property in the Bowles area of Fresno County in the early 1970’s. Once again, Irene was working, this time along with her children, in cottonfields and vineyard, with some cattle and pigs thrown in from time to time. She was a tireless worker and took enjoyment in tending her garden and spending time outside.
Irene enjoyed reading, especially romance and mystery novels. She passed this joy of reading onto her children and grandchildren. She loved her extended family as well, being especially close to her mother. Watching soap operas with her mother was a special thrill. She will be remembered for her tenderness and her ability to laugh and find humor in almost any situation.
Irene was preceded in death by her husband, George Neves, and her youngest daughter, Angelique Hutton, both of Fresno; her parents Joseph and Katherine Zarasua and her sister, Katherine DuHame, all of Fresno.
She is survived by her daughter, Marla Flores of Fresno; son and his wife George and Lilia Neves and their children Katherine, Harrison and Oliver Neves of Clovis; her grand-daughter Courtney Hutton of Los Angeles; her brothers Paul and Monica Zarasua, Charles and Terry Zarasua, and George and Marilyn
Zarasua all of Fresno, CA; Bernard and Sylvia Zarasua of Madera, and David and Lee Zarasua of Clovis.
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