| Memoirs
of a Great Lady
Irene Tresun
Letters,
1978-2005
Irene
Tresun is an institution in Los Angeles.
Through her experiences and writings,
she has given this city, and the communities
within it, a look at life, culture
and history that few could offer.
Ever since 1978, and Irene claims
it started much earlier, she has given
to her multitude of friends and organizations
her end-of-the-year missives.
She has enlightened us all with her
perceptive take on each year's city
and national issues, her travels,
and of course, her beloved UCLA sports
progress reports.
Irene
does not just give us an itemization
of facts and situations. She,
above all, is a marvelous writer who
can bring humor or pathos to any subject,
historical or not. This is why
the Los Angeles City Historical Society
is proud to launch this section of
our website, dedicated to a woman
who has generously shared her knowledge
and insights throughout her life,
and is still just getting warmed up.
It is our belief that Irene's look
at the life, culture and the history
of magnificent Los Angeles should
be shared by all.
A
Brief Biography
Irene
Tresun was born April 15, 1919 in
the Russian province of the Ukraine.
Her brother, Vitaly (Tally)
was born in 1925, just a few months
before their father died from influenza.
In time, her mother married
his cousin, who had become an American
citizen and had adopted both children.
Her
family made necessary moves to Germany,
Brussels, New York, Vienna and then
back to Germany, where they remained
until 1933. They returned to
New York due to the Hitler's coming
to power in Germany. After Irene
graduated from high school in 1935,
the family moved to Los Angeles, where
she entered her beloved UCLA and graduated
in 1939 in Languages. She continued
her education with a second major
in International
Relations. One day during this
time, she read in UCLA's Daily
Bruin that her fiancé
had been killed in a hunting accident
the day before.
The
week of the Pearl Harbor bombing,
Irene began her first real job with
the City of Los Angeles Civil Service
Department, today's Personnel Department,
where she wrote employment examinations
until 1949. She also worked
three nights a week as a volunteer
in the Army Air Corps' Air Defense
Command until 1944. During this
period, Irene was engaged twice more,
both times to pilots. One ended
for personal reasons. The other
pilot was killed flying to Los Angeles
to give her an engagement ring.
Later, in the 1960s, she became engaged
again to a pilot who passed away from
cancer.
In
time, her professional work became
diversified. She became a management
consultant, public relations officer,
and for sixteen years worked for the
Los Angeles Unified School District.
Her positions included writing
examinations, supervising various
units within the department and was
often called upon to be a public relations
officer. By 1980, she was a
personnel consultant to school districts,
the Rapid Transit District (RTD),
Glendale College, and a personnel
firm in Sacramento . She retired in
1999, after fifty-seven plus years
as a professional.
After
retirement, Irene became a volunteer
in dozens of groups. She was
president of five of these organizations
and an active board member in many
others. History played a major
role in her life as a volunteer.
She discovered her early love
of history when as a child she was
taken by an aunt to V.I. Lenin's funeral
cortege, then to the Hall of Columns,
where he lay in state in Moscow.
The event meant nothing to Irene at
the time, but the love of history
was instilled in her forever.
Please
click on a year below:
1978
1983
1988
1993
1998
2003
1979
1984
1989
1994
1999
2004
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
1982
1987
1992
1997
2002
|
