Irene Frances Fudge

Irene Frances Zerger of National City, CA was born on June 7, 1927 near Moundridge, KS to David Josua Zerger and Anna (née Kaufman) Zerger. She was the youngest of six children. As a child on the farm in Turkey Creek township, Irene learned the value of hard, honest work. At Moundridge High School, she participated in plays, band, and orchestra. In her senior year, she served as music editor for The Wildcat yearbook and was crowned "Football Queen." Irene graduated in 1945.

She chose music as a vocation with violin and piano as her main instruments. Irene attended Bethany College in Lindsborg for two years, participating in the orchestra and Sigma Alpha Iota society. She then transferred to Bethel College in Newton where she played in the orchestra and sang alto in the A Cappella Choir. She completed her Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1949.

Her early music teaching assignments included Pretty Prairie and Buhler Rural high schools. It was at the latter in 1953 that she met fellow musician James (Jim) Thompson Fudge, who was teaching at Wichita State. They were married in Eden Mennonite Church in Moundridge, KS on May 1, 1954. That summer, she completed her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University in Illinois, and then joined her husband who was participating in the Aspen, CO Music Festival.

The couple's adventures then took them to Larchmount, NY, where they were neighbors of Doc Severinson. During this period Irene taught in the New Rochelle school system while Jim attended Juilliard and toured with the Robert Shaw Chorale. The couple participated in the 1956 summer Arundel Opera Theatre in Kennebunkport, ME, where Irene served as accompanist/vocal coach.

In the Fall of 1956, they moved to Grand Forks, ND, where their sons were born, and both continued to perform and teach. To facilitate Jim’s PhD work, they spent time in Iowa City, IA, ultimately settling in nearby Grinnell. Irene taught piano at the college briefly, but preferred instead to direct the Grinnell High School orchestra and teach music at grade schools in Newton, IA. Her teaching career spanned well over 30 years. 

Irene loved to travel. She joined other Mennonites in Ukraine sometime after the war to help rebuild. She toured Europe in 1950 and years later with Jim visited Normandy, as he had been a participant in WWII, and visited several other countries in Europe. Later, they took a tour of China.

Once Irene and James decided to retire, they spent some time in Arizona, but found their true retirement community in San Diego, CA. Their union lasted nearly 64 years, until James' passing in 2018.

Irene quietly departed this life just one week after her 97th birthday. She was preceded in death by her husband and siblings Walter, Paul, Elsie, Doris, and Homer. Left to cherish her memory are sons James (Tamara) of Moline, IL and Thomas of San Diego; grandchildren Anna (Xavier), David, Nicholas, and Sophie; greatgrandchild Eneko; other family and friends, including Karen Reilly; and her beloved dog Charlie.