Leola Irby

Leola Jacquelyn Irby, affectionately known as “Jackie” was born on July 19, 1955 to the late Alexander Irby Sr. and Leona A. Irby in Baltimore, Maryland. She departed this life on September 13, 2005 after a life long battle with Sickle Cell Anemia.Jackie was raised in Turners Station, then moved to Edmondson Village in July, 1965. Jackie matriculated through Baltimore City School System and graduated from Edmondson High School in 1974.Jackie loved to write and express everything on paper. She loved to shop and to her family she was a professional shopper in her own right. Jackie loved to cook, and her favorite food to fix and eat was neckbones and taters. She loved pictures, taking them posing for them. She was a model and was naturally beautiful with a winning smile and eyes that the camera loved. Jackie was active in the fight against Sickle Cell Anemia. She was heavily involved in her Sickle Cell support group. There Jackie met many other sickle cell patients that she grew to love. For many years she actively participated in the Sickle Cell Walk-A-Thon and other fundraisers until her health began to fail. She was also involved with the Learning Bank, a school for further learning for adults. Jackie also loved contributing to her community by serving in the Bea Gaddy soup kitchen for years. Jackie had a sincere friendship with her doctor, Stanley Walker, M.D. Even though Jackie bore no children, she was a mother figure to all her nieces and nephews, and that even extended to the greats. Jackie was the center of her family, a person who nurtured you, was a confidant and easy to relate to. It was hard not to love her. Jackie could make you laugh for hours on end by being funny and silly. Jackie loved the Lord Jesus Christ and she accepted him into her heart as her personal Lord and Savior as a young adult. Her faith grew stronger in the Lord as her illness lingered on. She attended Cookleys Community Baptist Church. She was on the choir and actively planned and participated in annual fashions shows for the church until her health failed.She leaves to cherish her memories: her mother Leona A. Irby; three brothers, Alexander Jr., Robert W. Sr., and John H.; five sisters, Virginia “Jenny” Dorsey, Corrine “Coco”, Arvonne “Voot”, Deborah “Debbie”, and Barbara “Peanut” Robinson; three brothers-in-law, John Dorsey, Stephen Robinson, and Richard Smith; three sisters-in-law, Joyce, Margie and Alma Irby; two god-daughters, Erica and Jessica; and a special group of friends, you all know who you are; seventeen nieces and nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.She joins in heaven her father, Alexander Sr., and her brothers, James Sr. and Albert Irby.

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Leola Irby

July 19, 1955 - September 13, 2005