Irene Paulette Dugan of Vineyard Haven died peacefully on Sept. 2 at the Royal Megansett Nursing Home in North Falmouth. She was 96.

She was a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Irene was born to John Joseph Paulette and Maria (Mei Mei) Lombard on Jan. 13, 1927 at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford. She went on to attend school in New Bedford.

After high school a group of friends invited her on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard — and the rest is history.

On the Vineyard, she met and married James Kenneth Silva in December of 1948. They had two daughters, Barbara Marie and Paulette Maria, and a son, James Kenneth Silva Jr.

During this time she was employed by Florence and Edward Ballantine and Sadie and Joseph Reisman. She later became a VNA employee and private duty nurse. She truly enjoyed working at the VNA, helping those who could use assistance in their homes. When she began private nursing duties, her care of the elderly was carried out with compassion, understanding and love.

She loved singing and sang in the choir at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Vineyard Haven for many years under the watchful eye of Father William Campbell. Many of the other churches on the Island and off-Island were the recipients of her beautiful voice.

She loved traveling, especially to Florida, Rome, Medjugorje in the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico, Macau — and she never brought back a T-shirt.

In April 1967 she married Clifford A. Dugan. He was a master wood craftsman who worked for Charles K. Van Riper. They traveled and loved spending time together.

Irene is survived by her daughters Barbara Marie Haskell and her husband Bruce, Paulette Maria Souza and her husband Lionel, and her son James Kenneth Silva Jr. She also leaves other family members: grandsons Jason Brown, Travis Brown and his wife Carolyn, and Anthony Silva; granddaughter Gabrielle and her husband Tom; and great-grandchildren Christopher, Nicholas and Matthew Brown, Dominic Silva and Cairo Silva. She will be looking down with love on the little bundle who will arrive next year.

She was predeceased by her husband Clifford and brothers John Aloysisius Paulette and Gilbert John Paulette.

Her funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Augustine’s Church in Vineyard Haven on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. Interment will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery.