Irene Marie Roth

Irene was born on October 2, 1924, in Chicago, Illinois, to Joe and Edith (Nordlund) Anderson. She grew up in Chicago and graduated from Taft High School.

Joe and Edith were both first-generation Americans of 100% Swedish descent, and Irene grew up hearing Swedish spoken alongside English at home. Joe worked as a carpenter and Edith as a nurse. The family was devoutly Christian, active for many years at Swedish Covenant Church in Chicago.

It was at a church winter camping retreat that Irene met Donald Roland Roth. The two found themselves riding a toboggan together, which tipped over — and they found themselves with their arms around each other. They soon married. During World War II, Don served in the Navy, stationed in Saipan flying a PBY as a submarine hunter, while Irene stayed home caring for their infant son, Randy.

Irene and Don went on to raise three children — Randy, Scott, and Patti — and in 1955 the family moved from Chicago to Anaheim, California, where Don was stationed at the Naval Air Station Los Alamitos. Don went on to a career in real estate and, later, Anaheim politics, serving as a city councilman, mayor, and Orange County supervisor. Irene was at his side through a busy and social chapter of their lives; the two later divorced.

While her children were young, Irene was a devoted stay-at-home mother. As they grew older, she put her artistic talent to work — first at the PennySaver, one of the earliest and longest-running free classified-advertising publications in the country, doing layout and illustration, and later at GTE (General Telephone & Electric, later part of Verizon), where she managed an office producing and illustrating the telephone company’s yellow pages. She retired from GTE with a pension.

Irene inherited her mother’s home in Anaheim and lived there until 2007, when she moved to Northern California to be near her son and his family, settling into the Rossmore retirement community in Walnut Creek. She was a member of First Covenant Church Oakland where her son Randy was the senior pastor. In 2017 she moved to Oakland Heights Senior Living (formerly Pacifica Senior Living) in Oakland, California, bringing her closer still to her sons — Randy in Oakland and Scott in Alameda — where she spent her remaining years.

Irene loved to paint, and many of her paintings still hang on the walls of her children’s homes. She was the family’s devoted photographer through the film era, capturing countless family moments, and a prolific writer of letters and annual family newsletters — and, later, emails, which she sent, unfailingly correct in spelling and punctuation, until she was 99. She never missed a birthday, always sending cards with a little cash tucked inside for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

As a young mother, Irene loved to go roller skating in glittering, sequined skates — so much so that her son Randy once told his teacher, only slightly exaggerating, that his mother skated on television. She loved her coffee and sweets, a good novel, and her furry pets. She kept an impeccably clean home — somehow managing to keep a white shag carpet spotless for years. In her later years she loved visiting her grandchildren in Ohio, arriving with a suitcase of toys and new clothes and treating them to a day at the county fair and all the junk food they could want. Many evenings found her in the living room, a glass of wine or cup of coffee in hand and a plate of crackers, salami, and cheese nearby, chatting with a friend.

Irene is survived by her three children, Randy Roth, Scott Roth, and Patti Malenke; her seven grandchildren, David Roth, Katie Roth Otis, Chelsea Boniak, Stacey Roth, Jael Malenke, Nate Malenke, and Aaron Malenke; and her fourteen great-grandchildren, Sam, Eli, Jonny, and Leah Roth; Zane Otis; Isaac and Sonja Boniak; Astrid and Soren Ely; Mads and Zora Malenke; and Carmella, Oscar, and Felix Malenke.

She was preceded in death by her former husband, Donald Roland Roth; her parents, Joe and Edith (Nordlund) Anderson; and her only sibling, Doris Anderson.

Irene lived a long, full, and independent life — remembered for her artistic eye, her generosity, her impeccable letters, and the sequined roller skates she never quite hung up.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to Children Rising, founded by Irene’s son Randy, online or by mail. To give online, visit: www.children-rising.org/donate

Click on “Dedicate my gift” under the gift amounts and follow the instructions to make the gift in memory of Irene Roth.

To give by check, make it out to Children Rising and mail it to:

2633 Telegraph Ave. #412 Oakland, CA 94612

Memo: Irene Roth Memorial Gift