New Jersey native and longtime San Jose area resident Irene Cavalli passed away peacefully on July 13, 2019, surrounded by her loved ones, just five months shy of her 100th birthday.

Irene was born in Union City, New Jersey to Rudolph Otto (Rudy) and Dorothy (Herzog) Erlebach. She graduated from Union Hill High School, where she met the love of her life, John Cavalli, to whom she was married for 60 years before he passed away in 2001.She was the mother of three boys, and was deeply devoted to her family.

Following high school, Irene took college business classes and worked as a personal assistant for an executive in the garment district of New York, but became a full-time mother and homemaker once she started having children. She had a knack for numbers, and after her kids were grown, did bookkeeping work at Varian in Palo Alto and for a ballet school in Saratoga.

She was nourished by her Catholic faith throughout her life. She loved the church and was active with the Marian Visitors when she lived in Cupertino and Saratoga, and the Secular Order of the Carmelites when she lived at the Villages in San Jose.

She is survived by sons John (Janice) Cavalli of Pasadena, Gary (Christy) Cavalli of Danville and Ken (Yolanda) Cavalli of Santa Cruz; grandchildren John Cavalli, Jeanine Cavalli, Erin Duran, Kelly Glaski, Alyssa Cavalli and Nicole Cavalli; and six great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Spangler's Mortuary Los Altos Chapel on Thursday, August 1 at 11:00 a.m.