Obituary of Irene Ziegler

Irene, or "Mommo" as many new her, was a feisty, strong, and a strong-willed woman all of her life to the very end. Born in Czechoslovakia (then it became Hungary, then USSR, and now Ukraine), she spoke Hungarian at home with us, Russian, and broken English that she learned from watching Sesame Street, and enough Yiddish to keep us guessing.

She had 7 siblings whom she outlived by many years. She was a Holocaust survivor, having spent time in the ghetto and labor camps of Belzenbergen and Auschwitz where she lost her grandparents, parents and 3 of her siblings. After being liberated in 1945, my grandfather found her again, they married, had my mother, and worked hard all their lives to give us a better life than they had. 

In 1977 we had the opportunity to come to Colorado as my grandmother's brother, Tibor Rothman, was living here. He owned a barber shop off of Alameda in Aurora, and some of you might have known him back in the 60s and 70s. We all emigrated to the US in 1978. My grandmother was an incredible homemaker as well as a child care giver. She babysat and raised over 27 children (including my mom, brother, me, and our girls)! Some of you were raised by her, and now have your own kids. She was a fierce cook, baker and seamstress. She rode her stationary bike and walked over 2 miles in Utah Park every single day, rain or shine. She took such great care of my grandpa and of both her grandchildren, Peter and me (Janette), and her 2 great-granddaughters, Andrea and Maddie.

She was diagnosed with dementia about 10 years ago and sadly it was in its final stages the last few weeks. We loved how she was such a health-food freak most of her life, but toward the end her diet was that of a 10 year old boy's birthday party... pizza, cookies, Sprite and ice-cream. She was feisty with her caregivers and hospital nurses, yelling at them in all 3 languages and swearing in Hungarian. At least she made us all laugh a little.

She loved fiercely. She lived an honest and full life. She gave it her all and then some. Our hearts hurt that she's no longer with us, but we are forever grateful to have been raised and loved by her, to have learned so much from her, and to have been able to call her our sweet little "Mommo" (means "grandmother" in Hungarian) for over 5 decades. Her amazing voice, beauty, wisdom, and spirit will live on forever.

Irene is survived by her daughter Kathy Roth, her grandson Peter Roth, her granddaughter Janette Kononov, and her great-granddaughters Andrea Kononov and Madeline Roth

The service will be live streamed to the Feldman Mortuary Youtube channel on 1/5/2024 at 12:00PM : https://www.youtube.com/@FeldmanMortuary/streams