Fred T. Irwin

February 4, 1942 - November 11, 2018

Fred Irwin passed away November 11, 2018 after a hard-fought battle with a very aggressive form of leukemia, which was diagnosed the end of March. Fred was born in Elizabethtown, KY on February 4, 1942, moving to Arizona in 1950. While in his first year of college he married the love of his life Joanna, sharing 57 wonderful years together. Fred joined the Phoenix Fire Department as a fire fighter in 1965, retiring 20 years later as a Deputy Chief. In 1986 he moved to northern California to be the Fire Chief for the City of Piedmont. Two years later, Fred moved to southern California, where he became the Fire Chief for the City of Solana Beach, finally retiring six years thereafter. Although Fred served over 28 years in the fire service, he managed to complete his BA degree in Public Management, adding to his AA degrees in Fire Science and Business Administration. Fred was a go-getter, having many business interests and investments on his “off duty” days during his early years with the Phoenix Fire Department. Some of these included: construction clean up; motocross raceway, Mayer AZ; two used car lots; owning and operating, from the ground up, a Mexican food restaurant; owning apartments, and rental homes. Fred was a fixer-upper and he could fix just about anything, buying and selling properties including their own homes. Returning to Arizona in 1993, Fred and Joanna moved to Lake Havasu City in 1996. He enjoyed traveling in their motor home across the country and Canada, taking family cruises, riding motorcycles, being involved in home construction for their daughter’s two homes, and his own 3 houses. Fred liked people and had a great sense of humor. He met friends to walk Rotary Park early mornings, later meeting others for coffee. Above all Fred was a family man, loyal friend, devoted husband, very proud father, grandfather and great grandfather. He is survived by his loving wife, Joanna, daughters: Cindy (Rick) Koons; Lisa (Tim) McDonough; grandchildren: Tyler McDonough, Emily Koons, Kelsey McDonough, Mandy (Jake) Dyer; great grandchildren: Marissa, Ben, and Isaac.