Irene Sidlowski, 78, of Edison, passed away at home on October 14, 2023. She was born on January 10, 1945, in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Irene was a Director for Mary Kay Cosmetics and later in life, she became the Office Manager for Live Oak Landscape Contractors. She was a graduate of St. Benedict Academy and a communicant of Guardian Angels Church. Irene cherished her role as wife, big sister, mother, grandmother and friend. Her life revolved around her family and she worked hard to support them. At Mary Kay, she won numerous sales awards (including a pink Cadillac!) for her efforts, and she had a dedicated customer base until the end of her life. Her daughter, daughter-in-law and granddaughters all reaped the benefits of her extensive closet of makeup samples.

Irene and Stan raised their children on Kenlen Drive – where there was never a dull moment. There they made lifelong friends, threw many parties, took in numerous stray animals, and occasionally broke a wooden spoon or two. Irene's support of her family extended to her son's growing business, Live Oak Landscape Contractors, and she became the Office Manager in the late 1990s. It may have been Michael's business but everyone knew who was really in charge. Irene ran a tight ship, at the office and at home, and she helped keep track not only of the business, but of her grandchildren, who were often underfoot.

Irene took immense joy in her grandchildren, Kate, Mia, Aidan, Kyle and Sydney, and she spent as much time with them as she could – attending their softball and hockey games, wrestling matches and cheerleading competitions. Her most cherished times were spent around the kitchen table with her children and grandchildren, assembling hundreds of pierogi for Christmas eve dinner, refereeing their bickering, fending off taste-testers, and laughing well into the evening.

Irene was predeceased by her husband, Stanley Z. Sidlowski in 2022, whom she was a dedicated wife to for 56 years.

She is survived by a son, Michael Sidlowski, and his wife, Kerin, of Warren; a daughter, Janet Rosen, and her husband, Eric, of Holmdel; five grandchildren: Kathryn, Aidan, Amelia, Kyle, and Sydney; three brothers, Michael Gachko, and his wife, Lorraine, of Waretown; Steven Gachko, and his wife Denise, of Barnegat, and Joseph Gachko, and his wife, Renee, of Westfield.

Visitation will be Sunday, October 22, 2023, 4-8 pm at the Flynn and Son/Koyen Funeral Home, 319 Amboy Ave., Metuchen, NJ 08840. Funeral Services will begin 9:30 am on Monday in the funeral home followed by a 10 am Funeral Liturgy at Guardian Angels Church. Interment will be at the William C. Doyle Veteran's Cemetery.