Irene Lannan left us on Friday, August 28th, 2020, 3 weeks shy of her 86th birthday. She was born September 24, 1934 in North Reading MA, to parents Victorine and Joseph Van Laethem, immigrants from Belgium, who made a life for themselves and their two children, Irene and Robert, farming in what were then the rural Boston suburbs of North Reading. She met and married James Michael Lannan and together they had 5 children; Timothy, Patrick, Kathleen, Sharon, and Terrence. They originally settled in Nashua and then moved to New Boston in 1974, where they lived the rest of their lives, both of them retiring from careers at Lockheed, now BAE systems. She loved Neil Diamond and Herb Alpert and watching Riverdance and British comedies like Fawlty Towers and Are You Being Served. In her later years she developed a passion for quilting, and it is in this hobby that she lives on as an unsung hero; silently touching innumerable young children’s lives. Over the span of more than 20 years she made and donated close to 1500 small comfort quilts to The Home For Little Wanderers, Children’s Hospital in Boston, and other charities. Each was made with love and care. Stitched with dinosaurs and bumblebees; polka dots and plaids; teddy bears and fire trucks, and each given for free to a wayward child who clutched it for warmth and comfort in the back of a cold patrol car during a domestic dispute, or in a hospital bed while they waited to be wheeled in for life saving surgery. Though she was highly sought after by the charities she quilted for in order to express their thanks and finally meet the mysterious woman who kept them buried in quilts, she insisted on remaining anonymous. We would drop bags and bags of them off over the years and they would happily distribute them to the children that desperately needed them. She did this all entirely with her own funds. One could not have asked for a better mother—she was kind and loving, always there with advice to give or a supportive shoulder to cry on for all of us at some point when we needed her. She is survived by her aforementioned children, as well as her grandchildren Christina Bond, Stephanie Clarkson, Charles Lannan, Lucas Long, Jessica Leatherwood, and Katie Ehler, along with many great grandchildren, and of course the multitudes of anonymous children that benefited from her warm generosity over the years. She joins her husband James in the afterlife. God bless her soul. We will all miss her more than could ever be expressed. Due to Covid restrictions, there is no service or calling hours. The family is planning for a private Celebration of Life sometime next year. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the children’s charity of your choice in her memory.