Irene Winston

Just six days before passing away at 95, Irene Winston sat smiling in her sister’s living room, singing Chanukah songs and eating latkes, surrounded by her close and extended family. Occasions like these gave her the greatest pleasure as she enjoyed an evening with four generations together.

Nothing mattered more to her than family. She committed her life to making a beautiful home for her husband, George, and their three children, Warren, Bruce and Rina. George and Irene found joy and beauty in every aspect of their lives, from their open and welcoming home, to traveling the world, making dear friends wherever they lived, and watching their family grow and grow.

Each new addition brought them an opportunity to welcome people to their world, adding the lifelong friends they made while traveling to an ever-expanding family. Irene loved everyone equally and was generous to all.

After 95 years of love and devotion to family, friends, and community, Irene passed away in the company of loved ones December 27 at the Los Angeles Jewish Home in Reseda, CA.

Irene was known for her sense of humor, wonderful style and impeccable appearance, and great kindness and generosity to everyone who came into her life— and for the best fricassee on the planet. Her passions included shopping, card games (particularly Pan), charitable work, temple activities, and doting on her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Irene never let a candy dish sit empty or a guest go thirsty.

Born September 29, 1918, to Joseph and Fanny Maiman in Brooklyn, NY, Irene was not expected to survive childhood due to a heart condition that required her to go to a special school and refrain from many physical activities. She never imagined she would go on to set sail on 42 cruises, see the Great Wall of China, the Panama Canal, the Great Pyramids, Jerusalem, and ports of call across the globe.

One of four siblings who survived childhood, Irene remained exceptionally close to her baby sister, Elaine Berke, with whom she shared a bed right up until her wedding day. Even after she and George moved their family to California to join Elaine’s family, she remained close to her brothers, Sidney and Herman, and their families.

Irene’s early jobs included working at The Southern, a small restaurant on the Lower East Side whose cook was Harry Belafonte’s father. She also worked as a bookkeeper for several businesses and volunteered her services at her temples as well. She was known as a “crackerjack” bookkeeper who would never rest until everything balanced to the penny.

Irene married George J. Winston on October 13, 1940, and they shared 68 years of joy together until his passing in March 2009. Their first son, Warren, was born in 1942 in Brooklyn. Bruce followed in 1948, and Rina was born in 1955 on Long Island.

In 1956, the Winstons headed to California to join the Berke family. The two families even lived together—10 in all in a two-bedroom house—for that first summer until they could find a home of their own. Nieces Susan and Sherri and nephew Michael became like siblings to Warren, Bruce and Rina, and Irene and Elaine parented them all together. Their families remain as interlinked as ever.

Irene and George eventually bought a home in Woodland Hills, where they stayed for 42 years. Their house became everyone’s home—the backyard pool became a social hub for friends and neighbors; they hosted regular card games and welcomed their loving expanding family for countless holidays, weddings, birthdays and celebrations.

They later moved to Fairwinds in West Hills, where their social life continued. Irene and George became active members of Maarev Temple in Encino, performing countless hours of volunteer work. Irene served as both treasurer and Sisterhood president. They later joined Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, where they continued their long standing tradition of close involvement with the Jewish community. They gave

generously to charities, particularly raising money for cancer research at the City of Hope (where Irene also served as chapter treasurer) and donating time and money to several Jewish organizations.

Through it all, they were always Irene and George. Or George and Irene. Always a loyal pair and devoted to one another, a model of a loving marriage. Right down to their matching license plates, IREN GEO and GEO IREN, they were inseparable.

Children never ceased to bring out the best in Irene. She poured endless love and attention on her first grandson, Jason, who enjoyed 17 years in the spotlight before Alexandra and Benjamin came along to restore her passions anew. Later she would have the pleasure of getting regular visits from three great-grandchildren, Jackson, Daniel and Asher, who brightened her days by devouring large meals in the Fairwinds dining room.

Irene will be missed by the vast family she never stopping embracing, including daughters-in-law Joan and Delle and new son-in-law Marc, and all of their families, and the many beloved in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and countless close friends and relatives who knew her as Mom, Mama or Aunt Irene.

She loved and treasured her extended family, including Jason and Anna, Alexandra, Benjamin, Susan and Mike, Michael and Suzanne, Joshua, Loren, Sammy, Eli, Jackson and Vanessa, Daniel, Asher, Leslie and Thierry, David and Amber, John, Heather and Scott, Brian and Courtney, Steve, Anna, Wylie, Sasha, Heider, Abbie, Reese and Haylie. She loved and dearly missed her late nieces, Sherri and Lana.

The family requests that any donations in Irene’s honor be made to either:

City of Hope or

The Los Angeles Jewish Home.