Irene Pearl Farber (née Gandel) died Nov. 17 at the Jewish Home in Reseda at age 95.
Irene grew up in Minneapolis with her three sisters Norma, Sylvia and Esther, and younger brother Earl. When she was 20, she “escaped” to California, where she joined the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services) and, for a time, worked at the famous Hollywood Canteen and later at Paramount Pictures. In 1947, Irene met, and soon married, Nat Farber, a pianist who went on to become an accomplished musical arranger for television, and died young in 1975. They had one son, David.
In midlife, Irene went back to school to earn a degree in education. She took a job teaching English and journalism at Sylmar High School in Sylmar, Calif., where she would teach for the next 17 years, and proudly supervised the school newspaper, which won many awards.
After her retirement, she dedicated many hours to teaching English to the migrant workers near her home in Malibu. She was active in her Malibu community as the editor of Point Dume’s “Sea Breeze” newsletter, and a participant in Beyond War, the Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue, and Chabad of Malibu, among other organizations. Irene left her Malibu home in late 2003 and lived for a few years at the Gables in Ojai, participating in the Jewish Community of Ojai before moving to the Jewish Home in Reseda.
Irene was a great storyteller, an expert grammar checker, unabashedly honest and an unexpectedly progressive thinker, especially for her generation. She had a sharp wit and an independent streak, but she was also generous with her compliments. She cultivated strong friendships, often with people from a younger generation.
“She touched many lives and will be remembered and missed,” a loved one wrote to The Malibu Times.
Her funeral service was held Nov. 20 at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive in Los Angeles. Donations in her memory may be sent to the ASCAP Foundation (ascapfoundation.org), CHABAD of Malibu (jewishmalibu.com), or the Malibu Jewish Community and Synagogue (mjcs.org).