Irene Gilbert (Muenz) Winburn died of pneumonia March 17 at Harrison Memorial Hospital, surrounded by family and friends.

She was born July 4, 1904, in Camborne, Cornwell, England to parents Rebecca Hart Laity Gilbert and John Williams Gilbert.

She was proud that her heritage could be traced to English explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert, discoverer of the Gilbert Islands in the South Pacific, and half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh.

Her father was an engineer who traveled the world working on large public works projects such as mines, railroad tunnels and power plants. The family arrived in the United States in 1911 and eventually settled in the mining community of Butte, Montana, where her father entered the retail grocery business.

In 1915, the family moved to Seattle, where Irene met and married her first husband, Gordon G. Muenz. They had one son, Glenn Gilbert Muenz (Winters) on Oct. 31, 1926.

In 1942, the Muenz family moved to Bainbridge Island. They worked in the grocery and meat-cutting business in a number of locations around the island.

Irene entered the health care industry and worked for many years at the Lynwood Sanitarium in Lynwood Center. She was a 50-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star and a long time member of Bethany Lutheran Church on Bainbridge Island.

She will be most remembered as the “Gate Lady” at Strawberry Hill, where she lived for a number of years as the resident caretaker until moving in with her granddaughter, Frances Phillips, after her health began to fail.

She was predeceased by her husbands, her brother John and her son Glenn Winters, who died on Jan. 13.

She is survived by granddaughters Louise McNulty (Pinky) of Edmonds and Frances Phillips of Bainbridge Island, three great-grandchildren, Kimberly Lind (Jeffrey), Kellie McNulty (Wesley Noon) and Matthew Phillips, and four great-great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. March 29 at Bethany Lutheran Church, Bainbridge Island.

Remembrances can be sent to Bainbridge Island Helpline House at 282 Knechtel Way, NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.