Mrs. Irene Kral Madden

Irene Kral Madden of Sweetwater, Texas, passed away on Sunday, March 27, 2016 at the age of 93. Funeral services will be held 2:00 P.M., Friday, April 1, 2016 at Cate-Spencer & Trent Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Kary Fry officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Cate-Spencer & Trent Funeral Home. Family will receive friends at the funeral home on Thursday, March 31, 2016 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. Graveside rites and burial will be held 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at Crown Hill Cemetery , Albany, Georgia, with Dr. Biff Coker officiating. Arrangements under the direction of Kimbrell-Stern Funeral Home of Albany, Georgia. Irene was born near Longworth, Texas, on July 6, 1922, the ninth child of Thomas Tengler Kral and Anna Franta Kral. She grew up on the family farm south of Roby and attended the Roby Schools. Irene received awards in choir, piano, drama, public speaking, home economics and typing. Irene graduated from Roby High School in 1939 as salutatorian of her class. She attended Amarillo Junior College and Texas Tech University pursuing majors in music and home economics. Irene taught school at Royston and Post and supplemented her salary by teaching piano after classes were dismissed. She was an active church member throughout her life. In l945, Irene moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma and then to Oklahoma City to work with a dairy supply firm. She remained with the firm for ten years prior to working for an oil company in Oklahoma City. It was here that she met and later married William C. Madden on December 19, 1959. Their son Robert Paul was born on September 25, 1961 in Tulsa. In May 1965, her husband's employment with an airplane manufacturer required the family to move to Albany, Georgia where she and her family were active in church and community functions in the South Georgia area. Irene served many years with Albany Junior College as Personnel Assistant. She continued working after the death of her son in l982. She retired from the position and returned to Texas after the death of her husband in 1990. Irene returned to Amarillo to be closer to her brothers and sisters and to especially care for her older sisters, Edith and Ann. Upon the passing of her sisters in 2005, there was nothing to keep her in Amarillo. She moved to Sweetwater and became a resident of the Hoyt House assisted living community where she joined the Presbyterian Church and participated in many of the local activities until suffering a stroke in 2009. She is survived by one brother, Robert Kral and his wife Willa of Corsicana, Texas, and many loving nieces and nephews. Irene was preceded in death by her parents, five sisters, four brothers, her son and husband. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 956, Sweetwater, Texas 79556.

Mrs. Irene Kral Madden

July 6, 1922 - March 27, 2016