Irene Kopec

Irene Kopec (nee Tencza), age 97 of Wayne, died peacefully on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. She has lived in Wayne since 1952.

Irene had worked for Prudential Insurance at their Willowbrook office in Wayne as a dental claims adjuster for twenty plus years. She had demonstrated such an incredible work ethic that she was honored, at a special dinner event, for never missing a day of work during her tenure there.  Irene had also enjoyed volunteering as a “Pink Lady” at Chilton Hospital for ten years after she retired.

Irene grew up in Wallington, NJ where she met her husband, Henry, when they were both in the same kindergarten class. They were good friends through adolescence, but attended separate high schools due to school district boundary lines. They dated before the war and communicated constantly while Henry was on active duty in the Pacific.  After the war ended, and on leave from the Navy, Henry proposed one evening when they were out dancing.  They were married on July 20, 1946.  In 1952, they built their own home in Packanack Lake, where she has lived ever since. They celebrated sixty-six years of loving marriage together before Henry passed in 2013. While living in Wayne, Irene and Henry were active members of Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church.

Irene is survived by her four children; Bernadine Kopec Zapytowski and her husband Steve of Kent, OH, Ron Kopec and his wife Sandy of Northvale, NJ, Henry (Ted) Kopec and his wife Karen of Arizona, and Marianne Kopec of Sandyston, NJ, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Henry, in 2013.