Irene Claudette Nial
February 11, 1927 ~ October 10, 2022
Irene Claudette Nial, 95, of California, MD, formerly of North Andover, MA, passed away on October 10, 2022 in Waldorf, MD. Born on February 11, 1927 in West Andover, MA, she was the daughter of the late Mary Naruszewicz and the late Walter Naruszewicz. Irene was the loving wife of the late John A. Nial, Sr., whom she married on June 1, 1947 in Holy Trinity Church, Lawrence, MA, and who preceded her in death in 2005. She is survived by her children John Nial, Jr. of Park Hall, MD, James Nial of Phoenix, AZ, Gary Nial of Lewistown, ID, and Mary Walsh of Waldorf, MD, her sister Joan Cameron, Evans, GA, ten grandchildren, 23 great grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. In addition to her parents, Irene was preceded in death by her sons Dennis Nial and Kevin Nial, as well as her siblings Eddie Naruszewicz, Harry Norris, Henry Naruszewicz, Mary Naruszewicz, Patricia Brenk, Judy Wojtoch, Alice Holt, and Frances Nolet.
Irene graduated from Johnson High School in North Andover, MA on June 23, 1944. She moved to St. Mary’s County, MD from Quantico, VA in 1946. Irene was a homemaker.
The family will receive friends on Thursday, November 17, 2022 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM with prayers recited at 7:00 PM with Deacon Mike Crowe officiating in the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home, Leonardtown, MD. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, November 18, 2022 at 11:00 AM at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Lexington Park, MD with Father Marco Schad officiating. Interment will follow at the church cemetery.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.mgfh.com.
Arrangements provided by the Mattingley-Gardiner Funeral Home and Cremation Services, P.A., Leonardtown, MD.
View current weather.
Memories Timeline
Photo Gallery
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
My grandma was a wonderful lady with a lot of great talents. I’m sure it was her influence many many years ago that inspired my artistic side and I picked up painting. We even took a couple painting classes together at what used to be Doug’s Hobby Shop in Great Mills. I loved going over to my grandparents house and “exploring” her hobby room since there was always so many hidden treasures as well as stacks and stacks of fun supplies. And remember all the truly memorable holiday dinners shared at the table and us kids laughing because grandma used to sneak in vitamins in our water to make sure we were getting proper nutrients….she didn’t think we knew, but we did. Dyeing tons of Easter eggs in the kitchen (and eating half of them), looking through all the Avon items she had and getting to pick out something special, playing around on the “hidden” piano in back room, watching ice skating competitions (I think Dorothy Hamill was her favorite?) in the cozy TV room, and playing ping pong in the basement (which was always stacked up with so many cool toys and interesting gadgets). In recent years, I would visit grandma and bring my pet bunnies, which she loved so very much. She was amazed how tame and playful they were and she loved petting them and watching them do tricks. Yes, she was a wonderful lady and lived a long full life surrounded by her family and is now celebrating her NEW life in the presence of our Lord and Savior. Rest in peace grandma, you are loved by many.
I lost my sweet Grandma Nial. She loved her family and was such an amazing person. She was a very talented artist, seamstress, and was full of energy. She helped me to sew my wedding dress and made my veiled hat from Satin, tulle and lace. When I messed up the neckline of my wedding dress I went straight to Grandma. She hand stitched it and made it perfect. She was the daughter of a professional seamstress who sewed for the aristocrats in Poland. I made sure that she held each one of my seven babies because I knew having a great grandma was so special and rare. I have so many wonderful memories of her polish blintzes, tuna sandwiches packed with love for our swim lessons with Grandpa at the Officer’s Club on Pax River Naval Air Base. Wonderful memories. She will be missed very much.
This is my Grandma. While there are so many wonderful memories I have of her, I’ll just share this. I always get car sick and when I was younger she had these blue mints that she said would make my tummy feel better. And it worked every time. They are very hard to find now. Grandma’s decoupage egg art was so beautiful. I especially loved the ones she made for me and my sisters. Also, I’ve included a photo of a beautiful piece of artwork she made for me one Christmas (when I was little) because she said it reminded her of me. It’s still on my wall in my room. She was very artistic and I admired her very much for it. Rest in peace Grandma. I love you.
It would take me the rest of my life to share all the memories that I have of my mother but
I will share a few of them with you.
My mother left her home in North Andover Massachusetts after high school to live with her
brother Eddie and his wife Stella at Quantico VA when Eddie was in the Marine Corps.
She moved to Patuxent from Quantico in 1946. Her brother told her there were big opportunities
At the new Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River MD.
Irene Naruszewicz met Jack Nial in the Base chapel. They sang in the choir together. Jack Nial was
Stationed at Patuxent when he was in the navy. He was discharged in 1946 and was employed as an
Aeronautical Engineer at the test center.
Later in 1947-48 they joined a new church, Immaculate Heart of Mary and were there until the present church was built in 1961. They were part of the parish until they died.
Our household consisted of my mother, father, 5 siblings (Jim, Dennis, Gary, Kevin, Mary)
and myself.
In addition to being a wonderful mother, I remember her as being gracious and welcoming for all our
visitors and family gatherings.
From people who came to the front door we didn’t know to the Navy Admirals and Captains who had
dinner with us because of their relationships with my father.
She scrubbed, cleaned and cooked for days before dinners and family gatherings.
I remember her getting on her knees to scrub the sidewalk with Clorox.
She was always gracious, conversational, kind and had a warm welcoming smile.
Every year at Christmas time she would sew an alter cloth for church.
She and Mary, my sister, volunteered with different groups to make dinners and meat platters for a few hundred people at a time.
She was very good at multi-tasking. Dad took a picture of her cooking dinner, talking on the
Old land line phone (not cordless) while sewing the sequins on the Christmas tree skirt.
She always had a percolator (an old one with clear bubble at the top that you could see and hear it
Percolating) of hot coffee ready for whoever came in .It always smelled so good and inviting.
After dinner, she loved to have an oatmeal raisin cookie or a piece of pie or cake with her coffee.
When I was in High School, whenever I had friends over, she would ask them if they would
Like some sandwiches and something refreshing to drink.
Her sister Joan (90) told me the first thing she remembers about her sister Irene was her
Kindness.
Joan told me that she had Rheumatic fever for most of her 6th grade. Irene was 6 years older
And Joan remembered that Irene would get her school homework every day and bring in the completed
homework the next day. She said that if it were not for her sister, Joan would not have passed from 6th to 7th grade.
She felt so appreciative of her older sister Irene. Joan told me that she did many activities like skiing, hiking, sledding, ice skating, fishing and other activities because Irene included her.
She felt she would not have been able to do so many things if it were not for her older sister’s kindness.
My mother will also be remembered as an artist and a teacher. She taught classes in Eggeury with
embedded Fiber optic lighting, bread dough and paper Mache sculptures.
I remember one sculpted bread dough patch work quilt she made with very fine detail. She put that
Into a goose egg. She used all kinds of eggs from quail eggs to ostrich eggs and everything in between.
You can see pictures of some of her eggs on the poster in this room.
She also taught and created many works of decoupage and paintings in addition to
Refinishing antique furniture.
She taught classes for Recreation and Parks and Robby’s art store and finally at St. Mary’s college.
Mom lived with my sister Mary and her husband Rick for the last few years of her life (from Aug of 2016 –Oct
2022) she loved watching old movies with Rick like Easter Parade, meet me in St. Louis,
, white Christmas, It’s a wonderful life, going my way and sound of music to name a few and the food channel on TV.
I believe Mom’s characteristic traits of welcoming visitors and her kindness to everyone was an
inspiration to her family and those around her
Thanks mom
I love you
Jack