Obituary of Irene M. Naveau

IRENE MARGARET NAVEAU, OFS

Irene Margaret Naveau of Reston, Virginia, entered into eternal life on April 24, 2023, after a brief hospitalization.

Irene was born on January 27, 1932, in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, a city in the Pittsburgh metro area.

Her mother and father — Joseph and Anna Kemeny, both deceased — were ethnic Hungarians very proud of their heritage. Her husband, John Naveau, is a resident of Leesburg, Virginia. The couple did not have children.

One of five children, Irene’s siblings include Eleanor Wilson of Newport, Rhode Island; deceased sisters Martha Koncz and Elsie Miller; and deceased brother Joseph Kemeny.

As a young girl, Irene enjoyed dancing, and had a wide circle of friends. During high school, she worked in the steel mills of nearby Pittsburgh as a “runner”, shuttling messages from management offices to the mill floors.

After high school, Irene discerned she had a vocation to the religious life, and entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania (a community still active today). As a Sister, Irene both taught school and became a nurse. 

Following a decade in the Congregation, Irene returned to secular life, continuing her career as a nurse.

After Irene and John met and married, they moved to California, where Irene served as a psychiatric hospital nurse. Following the Vietnam War, she and John returned to Virginia. Irene went to work for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and then the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Irene was a parishioner of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Herndon, Virginia, where she volunteered in a ministry to those who are homebound. She was professed as a Secular Franciscan on September 10, 2000, and served the Tau Fraternity as Infirmarian, accompanying ill members of the fraternity.

Irene is survived by her husband, John; her sister, Eleanor; and multiple nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made by check to the general operating expenses of Tau Fraternity, P.O. Box 711152, 13520 McLearen Rd., Herndon, VA 20171.