Irene Warholoski, formerly of Columbus, died Thursday August 15, 2013 in Eau Claire, WI.

Irene Sophie Micek was born on July 4, 1915 to Joseph Micek and Sophie (Pytel) Micek and was baptized at Saint Stanislaus Church in Duncan, NE. She was the youngest of 17 siblings. She loved life on the family farm and often told stories about riding horses, working on the farm, and getting into mischief there. One of her favorite sayings, among many, was once a farmer, always a farmer.

She married Alfred Warholoski on January 26, 1936 and they had one son, Ronald. The family lived most of their life in Columbus, except for several years during World War Two, when Alfred was employed in Chicago.
Irene was always willing to work hard throughout her life. She candled eggs, worked as a housekeeper for various Columbus families, raised cattle, worked at the family blacksmith shop, and raised vegetables in her large gardens. Irene loved her yard. She was proud of her peonies and her flowering bushes, and in the fall she enjoyed her multicolored hedge which she kept meticulously trimmed. She canned countless quarts of vegetables and fruit, and she made hundreds of delicious apple pies in her lifetime, which she generously shared with her family.

Family was very important to Irene. Alfred and Irene visited Wisconsin to see Ron and his family every year at Christmas . They also made a point to attend nearly every milestone event in the grandchildren's lives, regardless of distance. Irene was also able to attend numerous events in the lives of her great-grandchildren.

Irene was very energetic and did not like to sit at home. She traveled to nearly every state in the United States, visited Europe, and took a Caribbean cruise. She learned to downhill ski in her late 60s in Colorado and Wisconsin. Later in life, she also flew with friends in a small plane to many different places in the U.S. She was very social and often said that she loved to have fun.

Irene lived in her Columbus home until she was 94, at which time she moved to Wisconsin to be with her family. Not only did she enjoy regular visits and outings with grandkids and great grandkids, she adopted a whole new "family" at CarePartners where she laughed and joked with a wonderful staff and group of residents.

Irene was involved with various groups at St. Anthony's Parish. She sang in the funeral choir, was part of the quilting group, helped organize card parties, and was involved with the church bazaar. Her Catholic faith was central to her life, and she was outspoken on the need for prayers. Her grandchildren would always ask her to light a candle and say prayers when they made important steps in their lives.
She is survived by daughter-in-law Johanna Warloski, grandchildren Paul, Elizabeth (William) Giese, Christine, and great-grandchildren Lucas, Jonah, Eleanor, and Simon Giese, sister-in-law Shirley Warholoski, and many nieces and nephews.
Irene was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Alfred, her son, Ronald, siblings: Thomas, Balbina (Stachura), Henry, Louis, Fr. Raymond OFM, Alvin, Sister Corneliana OFM, Joseph, Sal, John, Helen (Sus), Clara (Badsteiber), Cyril, Martha (Rosno), Bernard, Lauretta (Kuta), her parents-in-law, brothers and sisters in law, and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family requests that those wishing to celebrate her life make a donation to her long-time parish of St. Anthonys in lieu of flowers.