Irene Florence Rippentrop was born on March 14, 1927 in Doran, Minnesota to Cort and Lena (Olthoff) Rippentrop. She moved with her family to Lester, Iowa at an early age. She graduated from Lester High School in 1945. She was united in marriage to Marvin R. Smith in Lester, Iowa on September 13, 1946. Sometime later they moved to eastern Iowa where she worked in Cedar Rapids and Belle Plaine. She was always interested in fabrics working in a drapery department, owning her own fabric shop and lastly retiring from Hancock Fabrics in 1994. Grateful for having shared her life are her husband Marvin, 2 sons, Gary and Randy; 2 daughters, Linda Martin and Cindy Simpsons; 11 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren (all of whom reside in Arizona). Irene was an active member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. She was preceded in death by a daughter, her parents, 3 brothers (Clarence, Walter and Delbert), and a sister (Dellas Rollinger of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Dorothy Van Berkum. Relatives and friends are invited to gather with the family at Apostles Lutheran Church. Family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to the building fund of Apostles Lutheran Church. Memorial Service will be held Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 11:30am located at Apostles Lutheran Church 7020 W Cactus Rd, Peoria, AZ 85381. Funeral arrangements were handled by Chapel of the Chimes Mortuary.
