Dolores Irene Bork

Dolores Irene (Lutgring) Bork passed away peacefully at her home in Inyokern, California on May 20, 2022. She was born on Feb 10, 1922, the fourth daughter and fifth child of Leo Henry Lutgring and Frances Elizabeth (Ray) Lutgring. She grew up on their farm outside of Tell City, Indiana.

In Greek mythology, Irene is the goddess of peace. To many, our mother Irene was the embodiment of peace and patience. She was devoutly Catholic and faithful to her spiritual allies including, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, St. Jude, St. Anthony, St. Therese of Lisieux, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Irene was a 1939 graduate of Tell City high school. She wanted to become a nurse, but the tuition was too high. Instead, her older sister Margaret paid for Irene's tuition at a secretarial business college in Louisville, KY. In 1941, Irene joined Margaret in Washington, D. C., where she secured a job in the wartime typing pool at the FBI. She shared a room in a rooming house with several girls, all of whom had to share one bathroom "down the hall."

In 1942 she met U.S. Navy first class petty officer George Bork. They became engaged in 1943 and married February 8, 1945, when Irene was 22 years old. Between 1946 and 1957, six children followed.

In 1977, Irene returned to work as a secretary with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado. She was an extremely proficient typist with timed achievements of more than 118 words per minute with zero corrections – on a high-tech electric typewriter. She retired from the government in 1986.

Irene was very artistic and creative. She was a self-taught musician, (accordion and piano) and later took classes for photography, oil painting, and stained glass. She taught herself counted cross stitch and finished dozens of projects that included baby blankets for many of her great-grandchildren. During the last fifty years of her life, Irene made more than a thousand rosaries which she loved to give away.

Irene loved to travel and relished any adventure that meant getting into a car and "going somewhere." Road trips for hiking, sight-seeing, visiting relatives, camping, and being with her children and grandchildren gave her the greatest joy! Irene was an avid reader. Her favorite genre was soft romances and western fictions that included authors like Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. Her lifelong passions included reading, crossword and jigsaw puzzles and word-search puzzles. Irene reached her 100-year milestone on February 10, 2022.

She lived her final months in her beloved upper Mojave Desert outside Inyokern, California.  Irene is survived by her two brothers, Alfred and Donald; six children, George Jr., Gerald, Theresa, Joseph, Mary, and Stephan; 13 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and one great-great granddaughter.

There will be a rosary for Irene followed by a visitation on Thursday, June 2 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Holland & Lyons Mortuary. A funeral Mass will be held at Saint Ann Catholic Church on Friday, June 3 at 10 a.m. Both services are open to all who loved her. Her final resting place will be the cemetery at Saint Mark Catholic Church near Tell City, Indiana.