Harry E. Irwin Long Time Marin Resident and WWII Veteran, Dies at 95 Harry died peacefully at his home in San Rafael on Friday, April 4th after a long fight with congestive heart failure. And fight he did. Just three weeks earlier he prepared a corned beef dinner for nine to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Harry loved to cook and took great pleasure in sharing his table with friends and family. He is survived by his daughter Patricia Irwin (Charles); brother, Wallace (Marion) of Lexington, Ohio; and long-time partner, Claire Lambertson. Harry was a loving husband and father, good neighbor and friend, urban farmer, golfer, baker, joker, navigator and copilot, but most of all, Harry was a story teller. And what a rich life he had to draw from. A native of Tennessee, Harry was the sixth of seven children growing up during the Great Depression on a small family farm just outside Dickson. Everyone worked hard, but the boys had plenty of time for adventures, running barefoot through the hills, slingshots tucked into pants. It was in the small kitchen with its wood burning stove that Harry came to appreciate the hard work of his mother and sisters. "Every morning we came in from milking the cows and checking the livestock to fresh biscuits, bacon, eggs, and grits." At night the siblings slept upstairs in an open room separated by a curtain, boys on one side, and girls on the other. This camaraderie made the transition to military life a natural fit for Harry. After graduating from high school, he went to work for the Western Electric Company installing telephone equipment for a short time before being drafted into the Army in 1941. After completing basic training, he was stationed in Portland, Maine with the Coast Artillery before being transferred to the Army Air Corps in Monroe Louisiana for training as a navigator. Harry graduated at the top of his class and was awarded the gold bar of a 2nd Lieutenant Navigator. Harry's first overseas action was with the China-Burma-India Wing of the Air Transport Command. He was stationed at Tezpur Assam Province in India and his unit flew C-46, C-47 and B-24 bombers that had been converted to haul cargo. There, he "flew the hump" which was a dense, impenetrable mountainous jungle, supplying the Flying Tiger fighter unit with gasoline and ammunition. The ATC suffered heavy losses, flying at high altitudes, in poor conditions with overloaded planes. In September 1944 Harry was transferred to Hamilton Field where he was a navigator on C-54 aircraft following MacArthur's advances in the Pacific Islands and the Philippines. Harry's other active duty assignments took him to Elgin Field in Florida, where he worked on the first Experimental Guided Missile Squadron Proving Ground Command, and on the nuclear tests at Kwajalein. During his posting at Hamilton Field he met Evelyn, and they were married in 1947 in a small ceremony in La Jolla California. In 1949, Harry and Evelyn moved to Omaha Nebraska while Harry was posted to the Strategic Air Command. Harry told many stories about the abundant garden they grew in the fertile Nebraska soil. "Cabbage bigger than your head, so many tomatoes we couldn't give them away". At the end of 1949, they returned to Marin County, this time to stay. In 1950, Harry went to work for PG&E while going to Engineering school at night and they bought their first home in San Anselmo. In 1955, their daughter Patricia arrived. Harry was the Commercial Industrial Engineer and Commercial Marketing Rep out of San Rafael for much of his career. He was proud to be part of the growth and development of the County he now considered his home. In 1964 the family moved to a new home in San Rafael where Harry lived until his death. Evelyn passed away in 1997. In the spring of 1998, Harry and his daughter traveled to Tennessee to visit family and see the old Irwin home one last time. It was a tearful, story filled trip as one brother tried to top the other. In early 2000, Harry met Claire and they went on a honeymoon that December, staying at the Hale Koa in Honolulu. It would be the last flight for the old navigator. Harry liked to do things on his terms. Until recently, he did everything around the house. He was well into his 80's when his neighbor and good friend, John Ternullo, put his foot down and told Harry he was absolutely not to climb up into the trees with a chain saw anymore. Last year, when the doctors told Harry he had to cut back, he didn't want to accept it. After a bout with double pneumonia that hospitalized him he knew that he and Claire needed more help in the home. It was our great good fortune to find Vini, a wonderful, strong and compassionate care giver who made all the difference in Harry's last year of life. Recently, Harry said "I've had a wonderful, long life and I don't want anybody being all torn up over my passing". Well Harry, you can't have everything your way. A visitation and reception will be held at Keaton's Mortuary in San Rafael, on Friday, April 11th from 11:00 AM until 3:00PM. Harry will be buried next to Evelyn on Monday, April 14th at 11o'clock in the morning at Oakmound Cemetery in Healdsburg with a short grave side service. The family will hold a memorial celebration of Harry's life at a later date.
Arrangements under the direction of Keaton's Mortuary, San Rafael, CA.
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