Irmgard Luisa Parrington, 85, passed away peacefully after spending a day surrounded by family on Sunday, November 24, 2013. She was predeceased by her husband, Ronald Parrington, parents Eduard and Luise (Reuss) Tremer and her brother Josef of Nuremberg, Germany. She is survived by her three children, Ingrid Smith of Johnson City, NY, Josef Parrington of Clifton Park, NY and Ronald Parrington of Lansing, NY. She leaves behind nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Irmgard was born in 1928 in Nuremberg, Germany. She lost her mother when she was five and her father a few years later, having suffered the effects of mustard gas in the trenches of World War I. The family associated with the Social Democratic Party with its strong opposition to the Nazi-led Third Reich. During World War II, her older brother, the last remaining member of her immediate family, was bayoneted and killed somewhere in Russia. Within a few months, the apartment building and home owned by her family, in Nuremberg, was destroyed in bombing raids. At the age of 13, with her family dead and home destroyed, Irmgard was taken in by a girl's school run by nuns. She would later perform civilian duties on the Siegfried line, digging trenches, preparing meals, and tending to wounded soldiers. After the war she attended business school, worked as a kindergarten teacher, and eventually served as a nanny for a UN ambassador from Egypt. It was during a trip to New York City that Irmgard fled the ambassador and sought refuge among the Germany community on Long Island. Irmgard soon met her future husband, Ronald Parrington, a recent immigrant from England, who had served that country in the Second World War. The two started a family and moved upstate to Hancock, NY, where the beautiful backdrop of the Catskills reminded Irmgard of the Black Forest of her native Bavaria. Irmgard would eventually earn her degree in German education from SUNY Oneonta and Binghamton University. She worked for 15 years at Hancock Central School, where dozens of students were able to travel to Germany with her over the course of several overseas trips. Irmgard retired in 1985 and after several more years living in Hancock, flipping houses, dabbling in the stock market, and spending time in her pool and garden, she moved with her husband to a home along Deer Lake in Windsor. After the passing of her husband, Irmgard moved to Hilltop Retirement Home in Johnson City, surrounding herself with her beloved books and new-found friends. Family and friends are invited to call at Henderson-Biedekapp Funeral Chapel, 29 E. Main Street, Hancock, NY, Saturday, November 30 from 1PM to 2PM, followed by a funeral service at 2PM. A subsequent service will be held at United Methodist Homes Hilltop Campus, 286 Deyo Hill Road, Johnson City, NY on Sunday, December 1 at 1:30. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested people contribute to the Hancock Community Education Foundation, P.O. Box 819, Hancock NY 13783 in her name. Ruhe in Frieden Irmgard...Mutter, Gro