Winnifred Irving, the widow of Irving Oil founder K.C. Irving, has died at the age of 101.
Her passing was confirmed in a statement from Irving Oil on Friday evening.
“Mrs. Winnifred, as she was fondly called by many Irving Oil employees, is remembered for her kind heart and cheerful laugh,” the statement reads. “Throughout the years, she always maintained an interest in what was happening with the business and the people of Irving Oil.”
A private funeral service is being planned.
The life of Winnifred Irving
Winnifred Jane (Johnston) Irving was born in Back Bay, N.B., on Sept. 3, 1916, and was the only child of Thomas Robert and Martha May (McKay) Johnston.
Irving worked in New Brunswick’s Charlotte County as an executive assistant at Welsh Sardine Company, the Bank of Nova Scotia and Connors Brothers before moving to Saint John, N.B., in 1945 to work with the law firm Porter, Ritchie & Riley.
She joined Irving Oil in 1955, where she worked with K.C. (Kenneth Colin) Irving and had “a long, distinguished career,” according to the company statement.
The two got married in 1978 in Bermuda and “always looked forward to returning to New Brunswick in the summer where they enjoyed trips to Bouctouche, Back Bay and to the forests,” according to her obituary.
K.C. Irving died in December of 1992.