Irene Frances Brison

Irene Frances Robillard was born in Yakima on September 10, 1928 to Doisthe (Dusty) and Alma (Desmarais) Robillard of Moxee. She was the next-to-youngest child in a family of eleven children. Irene passed away in the early morning of April 14, 2019 at the Landmark Care and Rehabilitation facility.

With the unfortunate death of her mother a month before she turned six, Irene spent a patchwork childhood – living with older sisters, spending a short stint at a boarding school in Seattle, and managing the household in her teenage years for her father and younger brother. She was one of four high school graduates of the Holy Rosary Academy in 1946.

In September 1947 she married Bruce Belzer of Wapato. She and Bruce made a home in Union Gap until 1953 at which time they moved to the Parker Heights area north of Wapato. Running a fruit orchard and raising two small children left little leisure time. However, Irene joined the Parker Heights Woman’s Club and later served a term as president of that group. Bruce and Irene were active members of the Parker Heights Presbyterian Church for many years.

With a large percentage of young, non-bearing fruit trees in the orchard, outside jobs became necessary to supplement the family income. Bruce continued a part-time job delivering fuel oil and later became a bus driver for the Wapato School District. Irene worked for a number of years helping in the grape harvest for family friends Blaine and Marge Taylor west of Wapato. In 1960, she became the head cook for the Wapato Junior High School, a job she held for three years.

Throughout her life, Irene was an avid reader. She built upon that interest to become the head librarian for the Wapato City Library in the late 1960s. She continued in that position after moving to Yakima, following Bruce’s untimely death in late 1976.

Irene took the opportunity to travel over the next few years. In late 1977 she accompanied her son and daughter-in-law on a trip to Europe. Later and traveling alone, she made a several-week trip by car to the southeast U.S. In early 1983, she took another – this time guided – trip to Europe.

Later in 1983, Irene began what one may call Phase 2 of her married life. In September, she married John (Jack) Brison, an avid outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish. While no stranger to spending time outdoors, she now began to enjoy quite different recreational pursuits in the many fishing and hunting trips she took with Jack. They spent much of their time in their 30-foot travel trailer, going to fishing, crabbing, and hunting spots in the Northwest and to “snowbird” locations in Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico (Baja California).

After Jack died in 2014, Irene continued to live in her west Yakima condominium to which she had moved in 1977. Irene remained an avid spectator of the televised games of the Seattle Mariners and the Gonzaga basketball team. Family was important to Irene all of her life. She was always excited for visits and special occasions that included immediate or extended family. In her later years she loved visits by one or more of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She also enjoyed visits by a number of her nieces and nephews during this time.

Irene is survived by two children, David (Karen) Belzer, and Sandi Belzer (Philip) Brendale; four grandchildren, Ali (Adrian) Soto, Deborah (Ben) Johnson, Bryan Belzer, and Joe Connors; and seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and ten brothers and sisters.

Visitation will be held at Langevin El Paraiso Funeral Home, 1010 W. Yakima Avenue on Thursday, April 25th from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. A memorial service will be held at Langevin El Paraiso on Friday, April 26th at 4:00 pm.

The family would like to thank the staff at Landmark for their great care and love that was shown over the last weeks of Irene’s life.