Irene Lillian Sheilds Mahon

Irene (Lillian) Shields Mahon died on Friday, February 25, 2022, 3 days shy of her 89th birthday. What we will all remember most of Irene was her love for us and that we truly loved her. We will also remember Irene’s genuine interest and compassion for each of us as individuals, her refusal to be ignored or to turn away from challenges, her constant pursuit of knowledge about all things, and her gift for understanding and connecting with all manner of people. Shaped by her experiences in childhood and those in early adult life as a wife and mother of three children, Irene was passionate about equality, fairness, and recognition for women and women’s issues in our society. While Irene’s thirst for knowledge was one of her trademarks, her formal education began only later in life. She took her first college course at age 40, first pursuing an Associate’s Degree at Suffolk Community College, and later earning a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Counseling at St. Joseph’s College on Long Island, NY. Irene went on to teach at St. Joseph’s, focusing on courses dealing with the special needs of counseling people dealing with death and dying. In addition to teaching, Irene’s calling in life was as a counselor. Professionally, Irene counseled families, couples, and individuals in stress. Practically everyone Irene counseled came to her from referrals. The rest were friends, family, colleagues, and people whose lives, sometimes uncannily, crossed with hers. An incredibly empathetic and understanding listener, Irene helped so many people through issues and crises in their lives, even in her last days. Highly intelligent and well informed on a wide range of issues, Irene was a person of strong opinions and never shrank from making those opinions known to those around her. However, her wisdom, gained through years of personal experience, gave her an abiding respect for other’s opinions. A lifelong devout Catholic, Irene was an early contributor to the Charismatic Catholic movement. She spent much of her life serving as a Eucharistic Minister, leading prayer groups, and worshipping God and Jesus as a member of the Saints Phillip and James Roman Catholic parish in St. James, NY, and more recently as a parishioner at Holy Name of Mary in Bedford, VA. Keenly interested in the world and its people, Irene was well-travelled, frequently supporting her husband Jim as a traveling companion on his many business trips around the world. The two continued their travels for pleasure well into their retirement. Born on February 28, 1933 in New York City to John Francis Shields and Irene Veronica Byrnes, Irene was the last surviving member of her immediate family that included three brothers, John (Jack), Thomas, and Francis (Frank), and her only sister Janet Cerney. Irene was married to the late James Francis Mahon Jr., her lifelong companion of 64 years, and is survived by daughters: Colleen Mahon, Sharon Mahon, and her husband James Padowicz; son: James F. Mahon III; grandchildren: Lindsay Grindo and her husband Thomas Grindo, David Padowicz and his wife Katia Kobayashi Avanzini, Kevin Padowicz, and Rachel Padowicz and her husband Dane Anker; great grandchildren: Claire and Nicholas Grindo; devoted and special nieces and nephews, a collection of cousins, and her countless close friends. The family extends a special thank you to all of Irene’s special caregivers including: Vicki, Becky, and Sarah, and all the supportive staff at Runk & Pratt at Liberty Ridge and Generations Solutions. A funeral mass will be held at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at Resurrection Catholic Church, 15353 Moneta Road, Moneta, VA with Father Salvador Añonuevo presiding. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Irene’s family requests that you make a donation to the charity of your choice in her memory. Arrangements by Burch-Messier Funeral Home, Bedford, 540-586-7360.