There are not too many people on this planet who are blessed with longevity but Doña Irene comes from such a family.
She was born in May 1915 of Filipino-Irish-Spanish parents in the Philippines where she studied to be a nurse.
The young Irene became a gutsy guerrilla nurse attending to wounded Filipino and American soldiers during WWII. As a fighting guerrilla, she didn’t want to reveal how many Japanese soldiers she shot and killed.
She passed away in her sleep on March 15, 2014 at the St. Exequiel Moreno Nursing Home. She is the aunt of Mr. Jaime Kelly Pimentel, a seasoned journalist and respected convenor of Filpress in Sydney.