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Irene Malinchak
11/05/2024

Irene Malinchak, 95, of Brookdale Senior Living in Dublin, PA passed away November 5th, 2024. Born June 16, 1929, in Edwardsville, Luzerne County, she was a daughter of the late John and Mary (Pelak) Kuzemchak.

Before moving to Brookdale she was a resident at Atria of Bethlehem where she moved to from her home of 20 years in Lower Saucon Township. Previous to the township, she lived in Colonia and Edison, NJ.

Irene graduated from the former Edwardsville High School in 1946 and the former Wilkes-Barre Business School.

Throughout childhood until she married, she was a member of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, Edwardsville, where she sang Russian church hymns in the choir and volunteered for numerous church functions.

As a child of the Great Depression and the daughter of a coal miner, she grew up to be thrifty and appreciative. During World War II, she recalled fearing bombs would drop on Edwardsville. When her brother Peter became a belly gunner in the Army Air Corps, she and the family were always concerned if he would return from the war in Europe.

To help in the war effort, she and her sisters combed her hometown’s streets to contribute to the nationwide scrap metal and rubber drives.

She often said she likely grew up poor, but didn’t know it since her neighborhood of coal miners all lived the same lifestyle. She recalled having to do chores for her nearby grandmother such as milking the solitary cow, churn butter, gather chicken eggs and tend the vegetable garden.

She would often scold her grandmother, who only spoke Russian, for not speaking English.

She worked many years performing data entry for the Social Security Administration in Wilkes-Barre and later in the Newark, NJ office. Later in life she worked in the data entry field for Revlon Inc., in Edison.

After her marriage to the late Wassyl Charles Malinchak in 1953, they moved to Elizabeth, NJ and later to Colonia and Edison. They were married for 52 years.

She played piano and was involved with the Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and volunteered at the former Rahway (NJ) Hospital and the Deborah Heart and Lung Hospital in NJ.

Irene is survived by two sons, Charles and his wife Michele of Quakertown and David and his wife Caryl of Stirling, NJ; and an estranged daughter and son-in-law, Daria and Graeme McPhee; a grandson Bryce and his wife Betsy of New Hampshire; a granddaughter Casina of Queens, NY; an estranged grandson Alexander and a great grandson, Charlie of New Hampshire.

In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by sisters Ann and her husband Francis Berniche of Massachusetts, Helen and her husband Walter Selima of Conn., Mary Hock Cunyar and her husband Joseph of Edwardsville; Matushka Emily and her husband Father Stephen Shuga of Hometown, Pa., and two brothers, William and his wife Maryann Kuzemchak of NJ and Peter and his wife Lois Kuzemchak of Nevada.

Graveside services were held on December 7th at St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cemetery, Pringle, Pa.