Irene A Edquist

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.