Irene Mousley

November 15, 1923 – August 9, 2018
Myrtle Irene Tenney Mousley of North Bend, Oregon, passed away peacefully in her home on Thursday, August 9, 2018 at the age of ninety-four. Irene was born November 15, 1923 in Virden, New Mexico to Nathan Cram Tenney and Myrtle Payne Tenney. She grew up in Virden, the eleventh of eleven children in the family.
Irene graduated from Virden High School. She attended New Mexico State Teachers College in Silver City, New Mexico. She was also a student at Los Angeles City College and LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, Utah. After serving a proselyting mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
Irene married Woodrow Vernon Mousley in the Salt Lake Temple on April 7, 1952. Irene and Woody moved to Morgan Hill, California where they raised their six children: David, LeeAnn (Lani), Michelle (Shellie), Lori, Chris, and April. Irene worked as a very busy homemaker and mother. Woody taught school, ultimately becoming a professor at San Jose State University.
After thirty-five years in Morgan Hill, Irene and Woody moved to Kansas City, Kansas and then to North Bend, Oregon. Irene’s husband, Woodrow, passed away on August 14, 2002. Since that time, Irene has lived in a home next door to her daughters, Lori and April. Irene was an avid reader and a gifted writer. With her husband, she wrote and published three biographies. Irene also edited and published another biography, a selection of poems written by her son, David, and following Woody’s death, wrote a descriptive history of Woody’s violin making, with pictures, entitled For Remembering. Irene was a journal keeper, with over twenty-five handwritten diaries and numerous typed entries. Until recent months she continued to write, organize, and compile her journal entries. She loved to correspond with family and friends through telephone calls, letters, and emails. She went to great efforts to locate and communicate with friends from her past. Irene loved classical music and opera. She attended opera performances over the years in many cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Milan, Italy. Irene was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In her twenties, she served as a full-time missionary in the Central States Mission. She served in leadership and as a teacher in the Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society organizations. At the age of eighty she was called to serve as the Relief Society President.
Irene was preceded in death by her husband, Woodrow, her parents, David Woodrow Mousley (son), Shellie Weed (daughter), brothers: Walter Tenney, Nathan Tenney, Carl Tenney, Lynn Tenney, Clifton Tenney, Samuel Tenny, and sisters: Louise Robinson, Anna Turley, Pearl Archuletta, and Helen Webb. Irene was the last living of her siblings.
She is survived by four children: Lani (Richard) Moore, Lori K (Steven) Tersigni, Chris (Holly) Mousley, and April Mousley. She is also survived by seventeen grandchildren and twenty-one great-grandchildren.
Irene will be buried alongside her husband in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.