Irene M. Bessey

Irene Marian (Leeder) Bessey was born March 31, 1928, and joined her husband, Chester E. Bessey, of 65 years yesterday, November 11, 2025. She lived at St. Camillus Nursing Home in Syracuse for the last two years. We can’t thank the staff enough for their grace, kindness, and support while caring for Chet and Irene. Knowing they were taken care of made a huge difference for Dave, as their needs were great.

To say that knowing Irene for the last 43 years has been a true pleasure is an understatement. Anyone who met her or was friends with her would tell you that her energy would light up the room. In her younger days, when we would try to use the video camera (back in the day when our son was little), she would sing and dance around, completely dominating the footage, so we eventually went back to still photography… More recently, it was tough to see that light dim.

Irene was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She outlived her older brother Harold (Peg) and older sister Evelyn, as well as her younger brother Nelson (Joan), all from Canada. She met Chet in London while she was on an extended vacation in Europe with one of her sisters-in-law, and he was in the Air Force stationed in the UK at the time. She decided to stay longer with Chet and tour around before heading back home. They married in Toronto on March 11, 1959. They lived in Dayton, OH, where Dave was born, before moving to Rome, NY, Griffiss Air Force Base, where Dave and I met. She enjoyed spending time and traveling with her sister-in-law, Joan, as well as Chet’s sister, Mona, through the years. She also has two nieces, a great niece and nephew, as well as two great-great nephews in Canada. And several nieces and nephews and their children in Maine.

Dave has many fond memories of his mom wrangling the boys of his Cub Scout den and Little League team as she was involved with whatever he was interested in at the time. She would bring Dave to the Mohawk River so he could trout fish on opening day. And as Dave got older, she was his first secretary as she typed and corrected all his English papers.

Chet and Irene shared a love of flowers and gardening. Irene has been the president of the African Violet Society in Rome for many years. They always had flowering plants throughout the house, and the backyard was a horticultural treasure that Chet worked diligently with. She gave me many violets in our early marriage that found an untimely death, and eventually gave up and gave me plants that I couldn’t kill…

Irene was exceptionally talented with sewing, quilting, and had a collection of large dollhouses that Dave would outfit with electric wiring behind the wallpaper so the light switches would turn on the little lamps and chandeliers. She made many of the interior decorations and miniatures with her decades-long friend, Joan Williams, on their weekly craft afternoons. She shared that talent with me as we made a quilt together, curtains, and Christmas decorations.

We have spent holidays together for the last 43 years. First in Rome, NY, later in Binghamton as our son got older, then Conklin, and the last twenty years in Mexico, NY. It was a given that we would spend that time together. We spent many Christmases with her brother Nelson and his wife Joan, joining us. Dad loved his eggnog, and Mom would have a rye and ginger ale. She would tell Dave to be sure she could taste the rye.

Chet and Irene thoroughly enjoyed Sarah joining the family and being great grandparents, having Elaina and William in their lives. They loved it when the kids came to visit them. Chet would print pictures that they would have at their apartment and on Irene’s digital photo frame.

There are so many things I could share… It’s so difficult to say ‘goodbye for now’, but as I write this, it reminds me how blessed we are (and I am) to have had these two wonderful people in our lives. Our son had a great pair of grandparents in his life growing up, and as an adult, that is a treasure. The great-grandkids may not remember too much about them now, at 10 and 6 years old. But anyone who knows me knows that I have a scrapbook for that!

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