Irene Myers Stern-Kohn
March 21, 1918-Oct. 14, 2011
Menlo Park, California
Irene Myers Stern Kohn died peacefully at home with her family in Menlo Park. Irene is survived by her children, Twink Stern (Vu-Duc Vuong) and James Stern (Jan); five grandchildren (Theresa, Brian, Elizabeth, Jeanne and Tuong-Vi); and 14 great-grandchildren.
Irene was one of three daughters born in St. Louis, Mo., to Dr. and Mrs. Eugene Lee Myers. Both of her parents were in the field of medicine; her father was a renowned otolaryngologist and her mother a skilled registered nurse.
Irene's business career included more than 30 years of accounting/administrative skills with the United Mine Workers Welfare and Retirement Fund in St. Louis, Mo. When she retired, she moved to California to marry her soul mate Ralph Kohn, the former manager of Kepler's Book Store. During the last three decades of her life, she continued working part-time as the office manager of Future Funding Consultants in Woodside.
As part of the Kepler "family" for more than 30 years, Irene organized and Ralph cooked for the annual taco party for "Keplerites." This event brought an average of 100 people to their home, and Irene and Ralph loved sharing the lives of many employees/book-lovers. Irene always said that for her, "going to Kepler's is like being in a chocolate shop for chocoholics," for she loved learning so much. In California, she had time to study and received a degree at the age of 67, earning A's in all of her classes. She was one of those people who never stopped learning new ideas or reading throughout her long life.
Irene traveled extensively, spending a year in Mexico in the early 1950s with her two young children. In the 1960s she went to Gabon, Africa, to visit her daughter in the Peace Corps. Together, Irene and Ralph went to Mexico (several times), Canada, Alaska, France and both of them at 75 years of age visited Hong Kong and Viet Nam. During their later years, the couple attended college graduations and/or weddings of family members across the country during sleet storms in St. Louis and rainstorms in Hawaii.
During her life, Irene maintained connections with new friends and old. She began writing snail mail and later resorted to email and Facebook. There was nothing old- fashioned about her except her excellent manners, and she often demonstrated an example of how to set a proper table to her children and grandchildren.
Irene's greatest gift to her family was her absolute love of learning and her pride in the accomplishments of her family and friends. She adored living in the Far West, studied about it for many years and often said, "I'm a born again Californian." Irene was charismatic and had a wide circle of friends in the Menlo Park area who knew the couple from work and volunteering in the community. Irene had a support network around her when she lost Ralph in the spring of 2011. Young and old, family and friends, people from the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Volunteer Group (the Hut) as well as the Hearing Loss Advocates and, of course, many "Keplerites" met for one last time at the Palo Alto Friends Meeting House to attend the memorial service for Ralph and pay their respects to Irene. She was touched and profoundly grateful.
Irene Myers Stern Kohn was elegant and had great dignity throughout her life. She was always "ahead of her time" in learning and loving new cultures and ideas. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her, and we will remember her with love and admiration. The family thanks dedicated caregivers Lya Vale Cruz and Lourdes Mendoza as well as the excellent staff of Heartland Hospice, especially Chaman Safiran, RN. Per Irene's wishes, a private family memorial was held.
Tags: arts/media, public service
