Irma Bordeaux

Born, Irma Lee Fowler on 12-16-1926, to James & Lena (Bradford) Fowler of Sheridan, WY. She was raised, schooled & married in the Sheridan area. She graduated HS, then met & married Navy veteran Jack Bordeaux on 12-17-1946 in Hardin, Montana. They had 4 children - Jacque, Jim, Janine & Joanne.

Irma was preceded in death by her parents, by her husband Jack of 44 years, and was the last & youngest of 3 siblings: Margaret (Jared)) & Virginia (Henetz). She was also preceded in death by her son-in-law, Donald Arcand of Remsen, NY; a grandson, Alexander LoPresti of Valley Center, CA & a grandson-in-law, Carl Nelson of Latham, NY.

Irma is survived by her children & their spouses: Son Jim & Pam Bordeaux of Escondido; Daughters Jacque Arcand of Remsen, NY, Janine & Tony LoPresti of Valley Center & Joanne Hofer of Escondido. She is also survived by - 7 Grandkids: Laura, Anna (David), Jamie, Debi, Michael, Amber (Pep) & Adam; 6 great-grandkids: Earl, Cheyenne, Kassidy, Jackson, Arabella & Christopher; 1 great-great-grandkid: Cora; and extended family.

Over Mom’s 96 years, she lived in only a few places. She let us know Wyoming was her favorite place to live & she lived there until 1956. She would tell us about her early years living at home. Her dad was a decorated veteran & law officer in Sheridan. Her mom was a homemaker, sold farm goods to add to income & years later, her mom owned rental properties in Escondido, CA. As a child, she told us of hand-made flour or sugar sack dresses she wore & 1-room school houses she attended. As a teen, she did well in school & had many friends - her yearbook tells some pretty good tales!

From 1956 to 1963, Mom lived in Canada, where she, Jack, Jacque & Jim moved to British Columbia to live on a working & hunting ranch in the Okanogan Valley. Once there, they lived a simple & somewhat primitive life. She was a hard-working ranch wife & part-time home-school teacher for Jacque & Jim. They had no electrical or gas service, only oil lamps for lighting & wood stove for cooking & heating. At times, they lived without indoor plumbing or hot water - yep, you guessed it – outhouse & heat-your-own hot water for bathing! Mom told us life wasn’t always easy while providing for her family, but said “she just got used to the way things were”.

Mom would let us know what life was like living on the ranch & raising 2 kids. She’d recall the simple times of life there – she liked watching her kids grow & be adventurous in all kinds of weather, including many snow days – riding horses, fishing, playing ice hockey, camping or just hanging out with friends. She would laugh about home-schooling Jacque & Jim. If she gave them a work break – sometimes, they’d just take off across the ranch – to the horses or off to see friends. She said “she thought they were best friends in those years”.

Over time, they moved from the ranch to town. In a short time, 2 sisters were added to the family – Janine & Joanne. During time in Canada, they lived in a few small towns - Falkland, Salmon Arm & Canoe. In town, they finally had power, water & inside plumbing - but still used a wood stove for cooking & heating. Mom made some great meals for us with that old wood stove & her cast iron pans.

Around 1964, our family moved to California & settled in Escondido on Erica St where Mom felt she finally had a place to call home & was able to live there for almost 58 years – from 1964 to 2022. Once settled, Mom was able to watch her kids grow through their school years to graduation from local high schools - Jacque & Jim (Escondido HS), Janine & Joanne (Orange Glen HS) & then marriage to their spouses. Mom liked having the grandkids over when possible & helped with childcare over the years. Through the years, Mom did work at various jobs & enjoyed working with others, her last job was in manufacturing.

Although Mom didn’t always express her feelings well – she did let us know many times how much she enjoyed her kids living close to her. At first, Mom liked living close to us - to be part of our lives & family activities, later due to declining health – she said she felt safe with us close. Jim & Pam built their home around the corner from Mom in 1978 & live there still. When Mom was well – she’d just walk over to visit. Janine & Tony lived close by Mom too, until their move to Valley Center. Joanne bought the house next door to Mom & lives there still. In early 1970’s, Jacque & Don moved to a small town in upstate New York (Remsen) & Jacque still lives there. We’ve all had many events together over the years & Mom always enjoyed being with us.

Over Mom’s many years, she loved to travel. She was always ready to take local road trips by auto/RV, train or fly off to places of interest or to visit family. She’s taken road trips & flown from California to New York. Mom flew to Alaska to meet up with Jacque & family to view glaciers. She flew to Wyoming for her 50th HS reunion in Sheridan & visit family. Mom flew to Colorado to visit family with Jim & Pam.

One of Mom’s longest cross-country road trips was with Dad in their RV - from CA to NY to visit Jacque & family. They saw many places of interest – just a few - Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, numerous lakes & rivers. The stories told were great, even one when they had an RV problem & got stuck on a bridge with no way out of RV except through a window. Over the years, there were more road trips closer to home & yes, more mis-haps – especially since Dad had a habit of going in the wrong direction & getting lost - like the trip to SeaWorld in SD, but ended up in the desert! Thank goodness for Mom’s good humor!

Another travel adventure was taken years later for a Mother’s Day weekend to Hearst Castle with Jim, Pam & Pam’s Mom, Helen. It started out by train in Oceanside, then by rental car. We had a great time. The funniest part of our trip started just after checking into our rooms – the Moms thought the drinks & snacks in the small fridge & pantry were “free” to sample – so by the time we showed up to go to dinner – both Moms were sitting on their beds laughing like school girls after sampling most of the “free” goods. Of course, the drinks & snacks weren’t “free” – but the image of both Moms laughing & having such fun was “priceless”!

Several years ago, our families (Jim, Pam & Earl with Janine, Tony, Joanne, Michael & Alex) decided to go RV camping together at Lake Hemet (high in mountains) for Thanksgiving. Mom was going with Janine & Tony in their RV – luckily, she did. It was sooo windy, cold & frosty – their RV had the only heater that worked that weekend – so Mom had a comfy time & the rest of us couldn’t put on enough clothes. Even the fish were too cold to bite & the only thing getting a hook in it was grandson Earl’s head. Oh well, it was still a great meal together & Mom let us know she was grateful for her kids including her.

One year, Mom wanted to take one more trip back to NY to visit Jacque & family before she couldn’t travel any more. She wanted to fly & make it a sibling trip with Jim, Janine & Joanne. Jim was the only one that could go, so off they went. She loved that visit to NY. They had a great time with Jacque, Don & extended family. They toured a few local historic sites & even went to a family lake camp for a day of water sports thanks to Anna & David. One of Mom’s favorite things to do in the afternoon – just sit on Jacque’s front porch to chat & have a “happy hour” glass of wine with her kids. Mom wasn’t able to make the trip again, but would recall her memories of that trip often with a smile.

After Mom’s health started declining, Jacque & Don started making “surprise” visits to her. Jacque would generally call Jim & Pam to make plans for their airport pickup & “surprise” delivery to Mom’s house. It was always great fun to have them show up, knock on her door & watch Mom’s look. We would all get together for meals, some fun story telling. In afternoons, even “nap” time was more fun together. One year, Jacque’s whole family (Don, Laura, Carl, Anne, David & Jamie) came for a “reunion” visit – it was fun helping Mom prepare for all the extra kids & places to sleep. We had lots of time to visit local areas (SeaWorld, Wild Animal Park, the Beach) or just sit & visit. Mom loved those planned or “surprise” visits.

For years, Mom liked to go out to lunch or dinner, but later in life, she enjoyed sharing take-out meals with us at home. Since her stay at WESTMONT - she enjoyed the times, we could join her for lunch or dinner in the dining room. Sometimes we’d still bring take-out food & desserts to have with her. Occasionally, grandson Earl would drop by & bring Grandma treats from work - cupcakes, muffins, cookies – she liked those “sweet treat” visits.

Mom loved reading – we kept her stocked in books. Mysteries were her favorites. Over several years, Jacque would mail her boxes of books – she looked forward to those packages. Some of her TV favorites that we’d watch with her varied from ballgames, crime & detective shows to simple entertainment like The Voice or America’s Got Talent. On Mom’s last day, she had a baseball game on TV that evening.

Mom liked gardening & she really missed working in her yard once her health declined. Over the years, she had beautiful roses, grew tomatoes & citrus fruit, but her apple & peach trees provided the best fruit for her pies!

Again, Mom really enjoyed watching her favorite local & national ball teams on TV, especially the Padres & Chargers. A few times, we’ve had to delay holiday dinners for a ball game her team would be leading. She also liked horse racing & years ago, Dad won a good amount at Del Mar races - that was a fun day! When she couldn’t go to the races any more, she’d watched it on TV. Mom had her favorite jockeys & horses – locally & nationally. She liked to bet on a grey horse for a long shot win. Mom liked bowling with Dad & after he passed, family would take her to play a few games - Mom could still rack up the points & beat us all. We still have a few of her “strike” pics - she was a real winner at this game.

Mom’s life covered many major times in history, just to name a few – Stock Market Crash of 1929; the Depression with food & gas ration coupons; World War II – from the attack of Hawaii by Japan – to the end; 1st Man on the Moon; Assignation of President John F. Kennedy; an actor, Ronald Regan, being elected President & the tearing down of a communist wall as directed by Pres. Regan; and an America loving citizen becoming President – Donald J. Trump. Mom’s life was also enhanced by numerous medical advancements through the years to help eliminate or lessen several illnesses – from polio to recent covid. Wow, the things she has seen & experienced in her lifetime.

After years of a “happy hour” glasses of wine with Mom when she lived at home, once Mom moved into Westmont Town Court, Jim & Pam made most Sunday evenings a special “happy hour” with Mom by having a light wine spritzer with her, that is, until Mom’s last Sunday, on June 18, 2023 – when we had a “happy hour” hand holding instead. From your Family – “A loving toast to you Mom, now & forever!”

NOTE: A “Memory Celebration of Life” for our Mom, IRMA, will be held on Friday, August 25, 2023 – after an “Urn Placement” service at Oakhill Cemetery. Please contact family for more information.