IRENE GRAY STRUNSKY

Irene Gray Strunsky, who raised eight children before beginning a career in the retail industry, died on Sunday, June 18 at Sound Shore Hospital in New Rochelle after collapsing at her home. She was 81, and had suffered for several years from dementia.

Mrs. Strunsky, who was born Aug. 15, 1924, in Chicago, Ill, married Arthur L. Strunsky in 1944, while he was a master sergeant in the U.S. Army and she was a USO volunteer. The couple moved to Queens, N.Y., before settling into a house on Hinman Place in Mamaroneck, where they lived for more than half a century, raising five boys and three girls, and surviving rocky periods that inevitably accompanied six decades of marriage. Mr. Strunsky, a business consultant, died in 2004 at age 86.

After her eighth child, Peter, was born in 1963, Mrs. Strunsky, already in her late 30's, felt the tug of career aspirations. She got a job as a cashier at E.J. Korvettes, a discount department store, before quickly being promoted to train others, and then into management. Mrs. Strunsky, who used her maiden name, Irene Gray, for business, later became an assistant manager at the old Best & Co., in New York, and then moved into executive search, eventually directing the in-house unit at Genesco, the retail holding company.

Even before venturing into the retail world, Mrs. Strunsky rekindled her early love of the theater, and acted in numerous community theater productions. She was also active in civic affairs, with the Girl Scouts, the PTA, St. Vito's Church, and other organizations.

She is survived by her eight children, David Strunsky of High Point, N.C., Claudia Fidanque of Garrison, N.Y., Paul, Robert and Peter Strunsky, all of Mamaroneck, Cynthia McLean of New York, N.Y., Allyson Funicello of Mamaroneck, and Stephen Strunsky of Jersey City, N.J., plus 9 grandchildren.

A viewing will be held Tuesday, June 20 from 2-4 and 7-9 pm, at Cox & Graziano Funeral Home, 767 Boston Post Rd. A funeral mass will be held at 10 am, Wednesday, June 21 at St. Vito's Church in Mamaroneck.

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