Irina Cech

We are heartbroken to announce the passing of Irina Machlin Cech, PhD on May 13, 2024 in Houston, Texas. Born on February 6, 1939 in Moscow, USSR to Iliya Machlin M.D. and Bertha Von Leib. She spent her early childhood in war-torn Moscow during WWII with only her mother, while her father served as a medical doctor in the Soviet army. Tragically, he never came home. Irina was a brilliant student and a force of nature who, despite the obstacles she faced as a Russian Jew, was accepted to the prestigious Moscow State University where she earned a M.S degree in Earth Sciences with a major in Hydrology in 1961. She was then employed by the Geological Survey, Moscow as an Engineer-Hydrologist and spent her early career on field expeditions with teams of engineers and scientists, with the dangerous task of mapping and navigating rivers in unexplored regions throughout the USSR and Eastern Europe. In 1964 she met, Ivan Cech while he was studying in Moscow, and he became her lifelong partner in adventure for the next fifty-nine years. That same year they married and moved to Ivan’s home country of Czechoslovakia, where she worked as Senior Engineer-Hydrologist at the Central Hydrogeological Institute, Bratislava. In 1966 they welcomed their first child, Natalia. Two years later, after the Soviet suppression of the Prague Spring they fled the country with their 2-year old daughter and with basically only the clothes on their backs. With the help of the Jewish refugee program in Vienna, they were sponsored by the Jewish Family Service, which helped them to get to Houston, Texas, the city that would become their home for the rest of their lives.

Speaking very little English but full of dreams and determination Irina started looking for work, but this was at the height of the Cold War and her field of expertise was for mostly governmental jobs, that many employers were not willing to give to Soviet emigrés. However, at the University of Texas School of Public Health, she impressed faculty with her education, experience and gumption, and was hired as a lab technician. Not long after, she was accepted into the School’s PhD program where she then received her PhD in Environmental Sciences in 1973, and not only commenced her teaching and research career as a faculty member at the School of Public Health, but also welcomed her son Eric Cech to the family in 1974.

She steadily worked up the ranks in academia and became a full professor, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health in 1987.

Dr. Cech worked for nearly 38 years on behalf of underserved and distressed communities in Texas and elsewhere around the world and the results of her research contributed to a clearer understanding of environmental impacts on human health and to the development of policies designed to minimize such impacts, from healthy drinking water, wastewater treatment to radiation abatement. In 1989, she was awarded a Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship Award by the United States Congress, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce under Congressman John D. Dingell, working as a scientific advisor while on sabbatical leave in Washington D.C. She was also most proud of her work addressing neural tube defects in the Rio Grande region Texas-Mexico border.

As brilliant and innovative as her research was, it is by no means her greatest legacy. Her superpowers were tough love, leading by example, and a lifetime commitment to her family, friends, and students. At a time when it was common for women in the workplace to be sidelined or diminished, Irina’s students learned by her example how to wrestle their way to a place at the table. She loved fiercely, her husband, children and grandchildren, her friends, her students and the communities she served.

Dr. Cech retired in 2011 from the UT School of Public Health as a tenured Professor with joint appointments in the Divisions of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Health. But even after retirement she was committed to her work and remained active speaking at conferences, writing numerous publications, and collaborated and consulted on a variety of environmental committees and projects which allowed her to travel the world over.

Her feisty demeanor and assertive personality put her at the center of any gathering, and she showed her love for life entertaining friends with her quick wit and colorful anecdotes, cooking in abundance for any guest, and cultivating her lush garden and treasured roses.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Zhenya, and her dear son, Eric Thomas. She is survived by her husband Ivan, her daughter Natalia (Flavio) Pisani, grandchildren Eric and Veronica, nephew Igor, and his children Evgueny and Maria, and her beloved dog Valentina, and a legion of dear friends and others whose lives she graced.

Her celebration of life service will be held on Thursday, May 16th at noon. Beth Yeshurun Cemetery – Post Oak, 7445 Awty School Ln, Houston, TX 77055. Following the service will be a reception following the funeral at 2:00 PM at Earthman-Bellaire Funeral Home, 4525 Bissonnet St., Texas 77401.