with Alzheimer’s disease on Monday, September 23, 2019 at Cape Heritage Rehabilitation
and Health Care Center. Born in Yonkers, NY on November 3, 1937, daughter of the late
William J. and Evelyn R (Stapleton ) Marganella. She was the sister of the late Richard J.
Marganella and William J. “Skipper” Marganella.
Irene is survived by her daughters, Sharon Edquist of East Sandwich, MA, Diane Kahler of Baltimore, MD, and grandchildren Adam Kahler of Boca Raton, FL, Maddie Kahler from Baltimore, MD and Logan Kahler also from Baltimore along with many cousins.
Having vacationed in East Sandwich for many years as a child, the family moved from
Yonkers to Cape Cod as Irene entered the 10 th grade . It was a difficult transition for the
city girl to adjust to small town living, that is until she started to attend Sandwich High
School. She completely immersed herself and was popular among her 17 classmates.
Quite a change from the hundreds of classmates she had in NY! She always laughed
telling us how fascinated everyone was with her NY accent. Her fondest memories were
of her time playing for Coach Zion on the girls’ basketball team.
Irene went on to attend Nursing School at St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in New
Bedford, MA. Most of her career was spent caring for the elderly as a private duty nurse
or in long term care facilities. Always the compassionate caregiver, Irene treasured each
and every patient in her charge. In addition to a fulfilling career in nursing, Irene’s other
passion was motherhood. Raising her two daughters was her greatest joy. And that
nurturing continued when her grandchildren came along. Her passion for sports also
endeared her to everyone. Living in NY again later in life, but still being a Boston fan,
lent to many a night listening to the game on the radio (no cable back then!) screaming
her team to victory and being heard by half the neighborhood! We always thought it
was fun that our mom was the sports nut in our house and Dad definitely was not. Mom
loved to talk sports and did so just like “one of the guys!” Knew more than most of them
to be honest! Always fun-loving and giving of herself, putting others needs ahead of her
own, she was a great daughter, friend, mom and mom-mom.
In a terrible twist of fate, Alzheimers impacted her life to such a great extent that she
could no longer live independently and needed to depend on others to provide for her
care. A special thank you to the wonderful staff at Cape Heritage for their devotion to
our mom these last ten years. We are very grateful to each and every one of you!!
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Relatives and friends are invited to her Funeral Service at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at the Nickerson-Bourne Funeral Home 154 Route 6A Sandwich, MA. Visitation 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, October 11, 2019.
