Irene Hale Obit

Submitted by: Jo Holsinger

Irene Hale, long-time resident of Boswell, Oklahoma, died February 21, 2000 in Leesburg, Virginia. Mrs. Hale was born Helen Irene Phillips on October 14, 1906, to Zachariah Hartless Phillips and Abigail Amanda Blair Phillips, in Nimrod, Arkansas. She moved with her family from Arkansas to Bennington, Oklahoma, as a child, and attended school there. In 1929 she was married to Hugh D. Hale, son of Dr. and Mrs. C. H. Hale of Boswell. She is remembered by many as the owner and operator, for several decades, of Irene's Beauty Shop in Boswell. Before attending beauty school she worked for Mr. Sam Potashnik in his dry goods store. For many years she was an active member of the Boswell United Methodist Church and the Women's Society of Christian Service, and was also active in the Eastern Star, serving as Worthy Matron of the Boswell chapter.

Mrs. Hale moved to Purcellville, Virginia, in 1988 to be near her daughter and grandchildren. After suffering a fall, and in failing health, Mrs. Hale had been a resident of Heritage Hall Nursing Home in Leesburg, Virginia, for the past few years.

Mrs. Hale is preceded in death by her husband, Hugh Hale; her sisters Cora Hilliard, Willie Lamberson, Cecil Jenkins, Marvell Jeanes, Jo Phillips, and Lurlene McDonald; her brother Z. H. Phillips Jr.; and four other brothers and sisters who died in infancy and childhood. She is survived by her only child, her daughter, Jo Helen Holsinger, of Purcellville, Virginia; two grandchildren, David Perry Jr. of Leesburg, Virginia, and Rebecca Holsinger, of Winterthur, Switzerland; one sister, Lorene Jones of Garland, Texas; one brother-in-law, Raymond Phillips of Boswell; one sister-in-law, Gertrude Watson of Carrollton, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews. Visitation will be Friday evening, February 25, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Prater-Lampton-Mills & Coffey funeral chapel in Boswell. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 26, at Boswell United Methodist Church. Interment will follow at Restland Cemetery in Boswell. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Society.