Irene V. McDonald

May 22, 1933 - August 17, 2020

On Monday August 17, 2020 Irene V. McDonald passed away of natural causes at the age of 87. Irene was born on May 22, 1933 in Queens, NY to William and Irene (Kennedy) McDonald. She spent her youth and teen years in the NYC area before the family moved to Suffolk County where she graduated from Port Jefferson High School. Soon after graduating from High School Irene attended college at Hofstra University. Irene went into the retail business and worked for Sears among other retailers for twenty years. She then went into the insurance industry for another twenty years with firms like Equitable and Allstate until she retired. On May 23, 1959 Irene married Walter E. Martilla. They settled down in Huntington Station and had two sons, Craig and Russell. Irene enjoyed several things in life. Her two children, her brother Russell and sister in-law the great Reverend Madeline, their children and entertaining on the holidays. She also had a great love of literature and you could always find her with a book anywhere she went. At the Huntington Public Library or a local Huntington bookstore browsing for the latest and greatest novel. She was also an avid Scrabble player and played anytime she could. Irene also loved to travel and was able to visit many parts of our great country. She did have one favorite place to visit though and that was Cape Cod, she loved her Cape. Irene's other love in life was her cat, a good glass of white zinfandel and her Wedgwood and cut-glass collection. Later in life after she retired Irene settled down in Greenlawn, NY in the wonderful retirement community of Paumanack Village. Her mother was one of the first residents in 1979 of the newly built development. Here she met and made some wonderful friends and enjoyed her retired years in comfort. She loved living at Paumanack. A viewing will be held on Sunday August 23, 2020 from 2-4 pm at A. L. Jacobsen Funeral Home, Inc. in Huntington Station. Pastor Rebecca Pollicino from St. Peter's Lutheran church where Irene was married, and her children received the sacraments will perform a final service for Irene. She was preceded in death by her son Craig and his father Walter, her brother Russell McDonald and his wife and sister in-law the Reverend Madeline. Irene is survived by her loving son Russell Martilla, his wife Susan, nieces Susan, Deborah, Laura and Karen and many other dear friends. .