By Linda Whitmore
A warm chuckle punctuates Irene Willig’s speech – it is a manifestation of her relationship with everyone around her. She loves people and the love is returned.
“She has a smile and greeting for all whom she meets,” reads the announcement of Willig as the recipient of the Mt. Angel Chamber of Commerce Humanitarian Award, an honor given for a lifetime of helping others.
Her service is not in grand projects, and certainly not done for acknowledgment. Willig does little things that make others’ lives a bit easier and more fun.
It’s just natural for her to help.
“I guess it’s my upbringing,” she said. “I’m sure it comes from my roots. Mother and Dad always went to visit the ill.” And her mother would bake cakes for elderly church members and put together little parties for their birthdays.
Willig, now 88, was born about a mile north of Mt. Angel. The family belonged to Trinity Lutheran Church – and she’s a member still. She began her education at a parochial school by the church, but when it closed she went to rural Harmony School through eighth grade. She then attended Mt. Angel Academy for three years and graduated from Silverton High School.
After graduation, Willig went to work “mostly in hop fields,” she said, “and housework – grudgingly,” she laughed. She was accustomed to labor, having grown up on the farm her grandfather bought about 1905 or ’06. With no brothers, she and her four sisters worked in the fields. “Nobody wanted to do housework,” she laughed.
After awhile Willig went to work in local restaurants. She still greatly enjoys cooking and baking – her cinnamon rolls are insisted upon for family reunions. Willig, who never married, has two nephews and a niece, in addition to two living sisters.
After some years, she became a cook at the Benedictine Center, and the last eight years before retiring she cooked at the Abbey.
Since then, Willig was been an active volunteer at Providence Benedictine Center and Mt. Angel’s Senior Center. Sometimes she bakes cookies for the workers at the Senior Center. “I love to bake, and they’re well received,” she said with a chuckle. She also crochets caps and doilies to sell there.
A skirmish with shingles has limited her volunteer hours recently – Willig used to help out five days a week – and she is eager to get back in the swing. “It’s sure a pleasure. I miss it when I’m laid up.”
At Providence Benedictine Center, Willig sorts the residents’ mail, assists with Bingo games, “all those fun things, you know.”
“She was helping with Bingo today,” said Cindy Thomas, volunteer coordinator, in early February. Thomas said Willig has been a volunteer for the nine years she’s worked at the convalescent center and maybe more.
She said Willig brings the mail to residents and reads it to them, if they can’t. “She takes time to chat. That’s really helpful, to spend time with people.”
And the residents respond. “By their smiles, you can see they really appreciate her.” Thomas said she can tell when Willig is in the building just by the laughter she hears in the hallways. “She can tell a great joke. That’s such a gift. ”
“I’m thrilled about this honor for her,” Thomas said. Willig is excited about it too, making plans for what she’ll wear to the festivities. “It was a complete surprise.”
