Irene Drufva

CHESHIRE- Irene D. Drufva (Modig) 95 died Tuesday, May 29th at Midstate Medical Center after a short illness. She was the widow of Raymond W. Drufva.

Mrs. Drufva was born on May 5, 1917 in Springfield, Massachusetts, daughter of the late Carl and Elin Anderson Modig. She graduated from Classical High School in Springfield and attended Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts.

Irene was employed by the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in Springfield before she enlisted in the Navy as a WAVE in October of 1942. She took basic training in Stillwater, Oklahoma and was then stationed in New York City for two years. As Yeoman First Class she was transferred to various locations in the Hawaiian Islands in the early months of 1945. She was employed in a number of capacities perhaps most memorably to her as an assistant to the Naval Chaplain. After V-J Day on August 15, 1945 she made the decision to return to civilian life later on that year.

After her marriage in 1948 she and her husband resided in East Long Meadow, Massachusetts before moving to Cheshire, Connecticut in the early fifties.

Mrs. Drufva has resided in Cheshire for almost sixty years and she is a 60-year member of the First Congregational Church in Cheshire. As a younger woman she was very active in church affairs and served as a deaconess. Later on she was employed as Clerk of the Probate Court in Cheshire for approximately sixteen years.

Mrs. Drufva is survived by two daughters, Dorothy Drufva and Elizabeth Drufva both of Cheshire as well as three nieces and two nephews and their children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by her three older siblings, her brother Richard Modig, and her sisters, Elizabeth Schenck, and Lillian Pike. Her nephew William Schenk also predeceased her.

Arrangements-Burial at Hillside Cemetery in Cheshire will be private. A Service of Remembrance will be held for Mrs. Drufva at the First Congregational Church on the green in Cheshire at 2:00 PM on Thursday June 7th. There are no calling hours. The Alderson Funeral Home of Cheshire, 615 South Main St, 06410 is assisting with the arrangements. Donations in Irene's name may be made to the First Congregational Church of Cheshire, 111 Church Drive, 06410.