Irene was born in Borger, Texas on November 17, 1922, the youngest of seven children. Growing up, Irene and her family lived in many places throughout Texas. She told us stories of traveling by wagon to places far away where her family could find work. As a young girl, she remembered working in the fields alongside her brothers and sisters, picking cotton under the hot Texas sun.Irene and her brothers and sisters were all talented musicians. She learned to play guitar and piano, and she sang alto. After long days working in the fields or house, her evenings were often spent sitting around the porch, playing music with her brothers and sisters.Irene met Jesse Cummings at a community party in 1936. He was 21 and she was just 14. On their 60th wedding anniversary Papa would joke that when they first met, he thought she was just a "little ol' girl" and he didn't think much more about her after that night. Four years later however, on January 5, 1941, they would marry at her family home in Holt. Jesse was drafted into the Army just two months later and was stationed at Ft. Lewis in Washington. The first time Irene left the state of Texas was by a train headed for Washington state. She arrived at Ft. Lewis and worked in the dining hall. When Jesse was sent to the Philippines, she returned home to Holt and had their first child, Gerald. Irene and Jesse would have four more children; Charlie, Marilyn, Billy, and Lanell.They settled in Elm Grove and in 1964, Irene began writing the column Elm Grove Echoes. Irene worked hard as a homemaker. She also worked at the store in Winchell for a while. Irene and her family were very active in the Elm Grove community, going to rodeos and picnics. When her kids were growing up, the weekends of April through August were spent going to rodeos all over the place where her kids competed in the events. When her grandchildren were old enough to play, Irene became a huge fan of baseball. She loved football also, and she and Jesse seldom missed a grandkid's or great-grandkid's sporting event.Irene loved sewing and needle work. She contributed to community fund-raisers by donating her afghans to be auctioned off. Each new baby that came into the family would soon be wrapped in a blanket she had made especially for them. Many people bought her potholders, dish rags, scarves and hats she sold out of her daughter Marilyn's beauty shop. Irene was a member of the Busy Bee Quilters for many years. "Granny" was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Some of our best memories of her were in her garden, picking cucumbers to make pickles; the shopping trips to Brownwood and Brady; the Saturday meals she made of beans, cornbread and vinegar cobbler; hearing her sing beside us in the pew at church. All the holidays from our childhood were happy ones spent at her house, coloring and then hunting Easter eggs, or opening Christmas presents. When the kids had a rodeo in the arena on their property, Granny was always there to watch, sitting on her feed bucket.We will miss her sense of humor, which she kept right up until the night before she was called Home. We appreciate all the things she taught us, with her do-it-yourself, country girl way of doing things (she was still killing rattlesnakes with her garden hoe up until a couple of years ago). We will not be able to watch the Longhorns or Rangers play without thinking of her. We will never forget the love that we received and the memories that we made because she was our grandmother.