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Irene Wold was born in Butte, Montana on February 12th, 1917 to Kristoffer and Marie Wold, both originally of Norway. Her father made his living as a miner, most likely working for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Her mother headed the household and raised Irene and her siblings, George, Margaret, and Agnes. Irene attended Washington Junior High School and Butte Public High School, eventually pursing a career in nursing at the Saint Patrick School of Nursing. Irene worked for numerous hospitals after graduating from St. Patrick's, including the Barrett Memorial Hospital in Dillon and a Veterans Administration Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

In 1941 Irene joined the Army Nurse Corps as a volunteer nurse, and was assigned to the 46th General Hospital. After receiving training in Fort Riley, Kansas in 1942, White spent time at Camp Shanks, in New York. From there, she was sent overseas to Oran, Algeria in Northern Africa, and was then stationed at the 32nd Station Hospital in Tlemcen, Algeria. Irene's unit eventually set up a unit in Besancon, France. Irene returned to Butte in 1946, where she worked as a supervisor at Murray Hospital until 1948. Irene married George White on August 25th, 1948 and the couple moved to St. Louis where Irene worked as a VA Nurse until 1956 whereupon the couple moved back to Butte. Irene then worked as a nurse for Silver Bow General Hospital in Butte for 20 years. She passed away January 28th, 2007.