Irene Lynch, a longtime resident of Princeton, died on June 20th at her Skillman home. She had recently celebrated her 84th birthday.

Irene Mary O'Neil was born in Boston to John Edward O'Neil and Mary Genevieve Murray, and grew up in the neighboring city of Quincy. In 1951 she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude in economics, from Radcliffe College, then a part of Harvard University. In 1952 she married Joseph M. Lynch, whom she had met when he was a student at Harvard Law School.

After living in Jersey City and Upper Saddle River, NJ, the couple moved to Princeton in 1957, where they lived until 2013. While raising her five children, Irene took part in numerous volunteer activities, especially those having to do with education. She was active in the Princeton Regional Schools Parent Teacher Organization, writing weekly and monthly newspaper columns, along with other activities. She joined with other parishioners at St. Paul Catholic Church in establishing Princeton's first religious education program run by the laity for Catholic public school children. She also served as a teacher and Co-Chairman of Teachers in that program. She later served as President and board member of the Princeton Regional Scholarship Foundation, where she helped raise and administer scholarship funds for Princeton High School seniors who needed financial help to attend college.

During those years Irene was also President of the Radcliffe Club of Princeton and a board member of the Harvard Club of Princeton. For 30 years she interviewed applicants to Harvard College, and always enjoyed meeting new students to discuss their favorite fields of study and goals for the future.

When her own children had finished school, Irene returned to her early interests in writing and reading. She was elected to the board of The Friends of Princeton Public Library and, for several years, wrote their press releases. She became a member of two local organizations: the LPG Writers' Group and the Last Monday of the Month Book Club, and remained active with both until recently. Her writing included short fiction, family memoirs and travel pieces. She also employed her considerable literary talents while editing her husband's book on the early political and judicial history of the United States Constitution, Negotiating The Constitution, a History Book Club selection.

Irene enjoyed family vacations in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, as well as frequent travel to Europe with her husband Joe. Together, they attended numerous opera and theater performances and museum exhibitions in New York City. For many summers, she swam daily in the Community Park Pool, considering it a special achievement when she was reported to the lifeguard for "swimming too fast to be a senior".

She is survived by her husband, Joseph Lynch, and her children and their spouses: Anne Lynch and Peter Hadekel of Montreal; Peter Lynch of Princeton; Teresa Lynch and Rick Terry of Black Mountain, North Carolina; Mark Lynch of Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and Patricia Lynch and Trevor Dickie of Cambridge, MA. Her grandchildren include: Kathleen, Christine and Tashi Hadekel; Valentine and Rudyard Lynch; and Nathaniel, Eliza and Rachel Dickie. She also leaves her brother, Philip O'Neil of North Quincy, MA and Genevieve McCarthy of Braintree, MA, as well as several nieces and nephews. In Princeton she leaves many longtime dear friends.

Visiting will be held on Wednesday June 25, 2014 between 3 PM and 6 PM at Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Avenue, Princeton. A funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Paul's Church, 214 Nassau Street, Princeton at 11:00 AM on Thursday, June 26, 2014. Interment to follow at Princeton Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be made to TASK, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, PO Box 872, Trenton, NJ 08605 or to The Friends of Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon St., Princeton, NJ 08540.