[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 152 (Friday, December 12, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1801-E1802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          REMEMBERING THE LIFE OF IRENE PORTER POWERS MATTHEW

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PAUL A. GOSAR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 11, 2014

  Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of my constituents, 
Irene Porter Powers Mathew of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
   Irene Porter was born in Downs, Kansas, on November 20, 1917. She 
moved to Colorado where she attended high school at the age of 12, 
where she played basketball, sang in a trio, and the Glee Club. She 
graduated at the age of 16.
   Following high school, she worked for the Colorado Agriculture 
Extension Service. In 1937, she went to work for the Farm Security 
Administration in Colorado. Around 1940, she moved to Amarillo, TX to 
assist in the establishment of the FSA regional headquarters.
   On July 28, 1942, Irene married William (Bill) Powers, who was 
serving in the Army Air

[[Page E1802]]

Corps. They were married and raised four children: Rosemary, Gary, 
Suzanne, and Marilyn.
   In the 1960s, Irene moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to work as a 
private secretary with the Central Bank in Colorado. In 1974, she 
became the first female bank vice president in Colorado Springs, and 
likely in Colorado. This was a position she held until she retired in 
December 1979.
   In the 1980s Irene and Bill retired and toured the country in a 
Holiday Rambler, including a trip to Guatemala. When they returned to 
the States, they returned to Colorado and spent the summer volunteering 
at Lutheran Valley Retreat, a Lutheran youth camp.
   In 1986, as a second retirement, Irene and Bill retired to Lake 
Havasu, Arizona. Where they lived until Bill Powers died in 1991.
   Irene married Kenneth A. Matthew, a retired lobster fisherman on 
February 3, 2007.
   Irene is preceded in death by her parents, a brother, a sister, her 
first husband, Bill, two grandsons and one great-grandson. She is 
survived by her husband, Ken; children, Rosemary/Dave Tunnell, Gary/
Sharon Powers, Suzanne/Rick Twinchek and Marilyn/Ryan Paradis; ten 
grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren 
and two sisters.
   One last word from Irene, ``I want Ken, all my children, all my 
grandchildren, and now all my great-grandchildren to know how much I 
love them. You are all an important and beautiful part of my life.''

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