Irene Marie Anderson, 53, of Buffalo, passed away on December 10, 2023, at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.

Irene was born in 1970 and struggled through several health challenges as an infant that persisted throughout her life. As a baby she was taken in as a foster child and eventually adopted by Donna and Robert Anderson of Delano.  She attended Delano public schools and graduated from Delano High School in 1988.  She was an active member of Village Evangelical Free Church in Maple Plain and also a well known volunteer for Love in the Name of Christ (Love INC) Heartland, a partnership of 30 churches in Wright County to provide community services for residents in need.  Irene and her mother Donna were frequent volunteers at the Love INC used clothing and thrift shop in downtown Delano.

Irene worked at Unhinged Pizza in Delano, and was friendly and well liked by her employers, co-workers and many neighbors in the townhouses along Crossing Way, where she lived with her mother for several years until Donna Anderson passed away in 2018.  Irene then moved to Buffalo, but remained active in Village Church.  She enjoyed spending time with friends and family and having a burger at the Peppermint Twist in Delano or a special meal at Red Lobster.

She is survived by her siblings Jessica Farnum of Maple Grove, Rebecca Anderson-Gregorio of Milford, Connecticut and Scott Anderson of Fort Myers, Florida, her nieces Ezri, Alia and Freya Farnum and Elizabeth Gregorio and her nephew Daniel Gregorio.  She was predeceased by her adoptive parents, Donna Langfald Anderson and Robert William Anderson, her biological parents, Carol Helen Stang Ertl and Donald Wayne Ertl, and her sister, Michelle Irene Ertl.

A memorial service will be held for Irene at Iten’s Funeral Home, in Delano, on Saturday, March 30.  There will be a calling hour from 10-11 am, followed by a service at 11 am.