Obituary of Irene Grace Hanratty

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, sister, grandmother and aunt, Irene Grace Hanratty.  She passed away peacefully on Friday, April 4, 2025 at the age of 80 from Cancer.  Irene was born on January 6, 1945 to Elmer and Grace Cronk of Oakland, NJ.  She married and raised her family in Cliffwood Lake in Vernon, NJ.  She had a great sense of humor and faced life’s challenges with remarkable resilience and strength.

Irene was devoted to her family.   She loved playing games, watching football and Fox News, and was happiest on family road trips to NC and watching her gardens bloom.   She was a fantastic cook and was best known for her homemade apple pie and crème puffs.  She was a trained hair stylist and was proud of her job in Special Needs Transportation, which allowed her to care for her son Richard as she wanted.  Irene loved and rescued many cats throughout her life, and considered them her babies.  She will be sadly missed by her cats,  Henry and Teddy.  

 Irene was preceded in death by her husband Richard “Dick” Hanratty, son Richard Hanratty and parents, Elmer and Grace Cronk.  She is survived by twin daughters, Suzanne Aschoff of Warren, NJ and Amy Belzile (Mark) of Moseley, VA  grandchildren, Amanda Aschoff, Hannah Aschoff, Amy Aschoff, Daniel Belzile and Bradley Belzile, brothers, Bruce Cronk (Nancy) of Lee Summit, MO and Chuck Cronk (Melissa) of Fletcher, NC. , and many nieces and nephews.  Irene adored her friends and maintained special friendships throughout her life.  She was particularly blessed to have Mike Spina and family as special neighbors who became like family later in life.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 9^th at Oakland Memorial Funeral home from 6:00 – 8:00PM.  Funeral services will be Thursday, April 10^th at 10:00AM.  She will laid to rest beside her husband and son at Ponds Church Cemetery in Oakland, NJ.