Irene Marie Tyler

Irene Marie Tyler Irene Marie Tyler passed into heaven on Friday, October 9, 2020, after a prolonged battle with ovarian cancer from 2016. The last months of her life she spent in hospice at her Atlanta home of 48 years in the quest for comfort and elusive pain relief. She passed away peacefully while holding hands with her husband, daughter and son. Irene was a Dutch girl born and raised in Maastricht, the capital city of Limburg, a land peninsula of Holland (The Netherlands), located between Belgium, France and Germany, a multi-linguistic area where virtually everyone speaks Dutch, French and German and some English. Irene’s father, a former seminarian, was a university professor of French. Her high school curriculum required six years each of Dutch, English, French and German. For those such as Irene on the college track, six years each of Greek and Latin were also required. After high school, Irene attended a Catholic teachers college in Maastricht where she earned a certificate for teaching high school French. She then earned a Bachelor of Arts in French and Italian from the University of Amsterdam. In Brussels, Belgium, she studied translation and interpretation of French, Italian and Russian at the Language Institute. Afterwards, she returned to the University of Amsterdam to earn a Master of Arts French and Italian. In 1965, Irene immigrated to the United States as a new fiancée and taught French and Italian at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Later in New York City, she taught French in the public and private high schools while also studying and earning a Master of Arts in Education from the State University of New York. Moving to Atlanta in 1972, Irene then obtained a Master of Arts in Library Science from Emory University. Subsequently, she became librarian at the Goethe Institute of the German Cultural Center in Atlanta. As Atlanta’s airport grew into world renown, International Services, an organization providing language assistance to foreign travelers, developed and hired Irene as interpreter and translator of multiple languages. Her skills having become very remarkable, multinational airlines beckoned her - she chose Lufthansa German Airlines where she worked for 21 years. During those years, she also served as Dutch language consultant for the court system in Atlanta. In 2007, Irene retired. While studying in Brussels in the mid 1960s, in 1963 Irene met the man who would become the love of her life, Richard Tyler, an American studying medicine at the University of Brussels. The couple came to America, married on December 26, 1965, and raised three children, the two of whom have eight children who were the source of great joy for Irene. As a talented linguist, in addition to the languages in which she was fluent, Irene demonstrated the ability to quickly learn new languages when traveling abroad, something she and husband Richard loved to do. Irene was known to all as a loving and caring person. Most of all, she loved her family. Irene was absolutely devoted to her husband of 55 years, her children and grandchildren. She was the ultimate Mama bear and no one dared to mess with her family. Those who knew and had the privilege of interacting with her loved her, for she was always willing to lend an ear and a sympathetic shoulder. She was also a stern and no nonsense woman but one who functioned with empathy, always courteous, fair and anxious to lend a helping hand. Irene loved plants and flowers, her garden and the relaxing sound of the ocean, which was her favorite get-away, content with just sitting on or near the beach, taking in the sun or reading, with the ocean waves serving as background music. In the near future, a virtual memorial service will be held at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, unfortunately limited to immediate family and close friends. Irene is survived by husband Richard, daughter Francoise, Son-in-Law Will, Son Richard, Daughter-in-Law Lori; 8 grandchildren: Briana, Richard, Jr., David, Erin, Tyler, Lauren, Gabrielle, and Olivia. She was preceded in death by her daughter Juliette Lewis in 2005 (Rustin Lewis). She leaves behind special friend Jerri Lee, who provided living comfort and care to both her and Richard the past several years, as well as a large host of relatives and friends. Irene’s husband and children appreciate the many calls, letters, and other expressions of love and affection during these difficult times. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to Planned Parenthood or WABE.