Irene Palassis Queen

Irene Palassis Queen, age 52, passed away peacefully on May 7, 2025. She was a beloved daughter, a loving wife, a devoted mother, and a loyal friend.

Irene was born in Chicago, IL, and moved with her family to Cincinnati in 1976. She attended Maddux Elementary and graduated from Anderson High School before going on to Asbury College (now University) where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree and created assemblage sculptures, textiles, and stained glass. During her college years she was introduced to Jonathan through a mutual friend. They married in 1995 and, longing to stay close to her tight-knit Greek family, the newlyweds returned to Cincinnati the same year, just in time for the next generation to arrive.

Motherhood was Irene's greatest joy and most profound calling. Her four children were not only her pride but also her purpose. Everything Irene did flowed from her fierce, tender, and unwavering love for them. Her care, her creativity, and her strength found their highest expression in how she mothered-with intention, with humor, and with endless heart.

Irene's warmth and generosity weren't limited to her family. Everyone she touched carries her fingerprints in some way. She never loved from a distance-she was there, fully present, with her sleeves rolled up and her hands in everything. She was present and supportive to loved ones birthing a baby or entering a new chapter in life. Irene showed up-first in line with a meal, a gift, a handmade creation, or simply her full-hearted presence. She celebrated life and the act of living in all its forms, always.

To Irene, "The more, the merrier" wasn't just a saying-it was the way she lived and loved. Even after her cancer diagnosis, she trained and worked as an at-home care provider for elderly patients, showing up to bathe, feed, and comfort others between her own treatments and surgeries. Her love knew no bounds.

Irene was wildly creative, full of color and curiosity. Her love of music was woven through every season of her life-from childhood musicals and choir performances to harmonies with her brother Christopher and recording a final, beautiful song with him shortly before her passing. Her voice was clear, pure, and full of soul. She sang not only to be heard, but to be felt and to feel her connection to the others.

She loved crocheting, collaging, and making beautiful things by hand. Her connection to nature ran deep-from her earliest days exploring the woods to her lifelong love of animals. She helped deliver litters of puppies and adored her own pets: Gus, her devoted dog who never left her side, and Beans, her velvety black cat.

Irene welcomed people with open arms-literally. Her hugs were unforgettable, her laughter was full-bodied and contagious. She would travel any distance to be with her people. She was a spark in every room, a storyteller, an active listener, an encourager, a bright flame in so many lives. She made us feel seen.

Irene's absence leaves an ache that words cannot fully touch, but her love lives on in the lives she shaped, the family she adored, and the countless ways she gave of herself out of the generous depths of her love.

Irene was preceded in death by her father John Palassis. She is survived her mother Evelyn, her husband Jonathan and their four children Clove, Micah, Oliver, and Willow, her siblings (and spouses) Elaine (Pete) Dongell, Catherine (Nathaniel) Dean, and Christopher (Chelle) Palassis, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Visitation for family and friends will be on Monday, May 12, 2025 from 10:30am-12:30pm at T.P. White & Sons Funeral Home, 2050 Beechmont Ave. in Mt. Washington with a heartfelt "Celebration of Life" service following from 12:30pm-1:00pm. Burial will follow at Spring Grove Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to SEM Food Pantry at 2020 Beechmont Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45230 (https://www.semfoodpantry.org/donate) or to Peppermint Pig Animal Rescue 8454 Beechmont Ave Cincinnati, OH 45255 (https://www.peppermintpiganimalrescue.org/donate/)