Irene L. Dunbar

Waltham – Mrs. Irene L. (Murphy) Dunbar, of Waltham, died Thursday, June 3, 2010 in the Dorothy Frances Home in Waltham following a long bout with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 85.

Irene was born in Cambridge on July 3, 1924, a daughter of the late Timothy J. and Catherine F. (Mullin) Murphy and had lived there until moving to Waltham in 1953. She was a graduate of Cambridge High and Latin School and Bryant and Stratton Secretarial School in Boston.

After raising her family she went to work as a secretary for the English and Drama Department of Waltham High School where she was Bob Eagle’s secretary until her retirement. She also coordinated the Reagle Players activities.

Irene is survived by her husband, John C. Dunbar; her children, John M. ‘Mike’ Dunbar and his wife, Elizabeth, of Worcester, Charles K. Dunbar and his wife, Sarah, of Milford, New Hampshire, Kathryn A. Hines and her husband, Terence, of Waltham, David A. Dunbar and his wife, Barbara, of South Windsor, Connecticut, Lorraine ‘Lany’ Ciccone and her husband, Paul of Lexington, Jane E. Edwards and her husband, James, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, and Stephen W. Dunbar and his wife, Cheryl, of Franklin; 21 grandchildren, 7 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

She was the mother of the late Mary Dunbar and the sister of the late Edna Tilton, Mildred Murphy, Florence Wallace, Grace Eagan, Dorothea Ahern, May MacDonald, John Murphy, Helen Kenneally, and William Murphy.

Family and friends will honor and remember Irene’s life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham, on Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m. and again at 9 a.m. on Monday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Mary’s Church, 133 School Street, Waltham where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Grove Hill Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 311 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472.