Irene Davis Stollerrecently of White River Junction, Vermont, has died peacefully of natural causes at age 97.

Ms. Stoller, a retired librarian, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and immigrated to the US at the age of 3 with her parents, Ellis and Alice Stoller. She grew up in West Philadelphia, and excelled as a student, serving as valedictorian of her graduating class at John Bartram High School. While training as a nurse during World War II, she married Irving Gitomer and started a family in Haddon Heights and then Moorestown, New Jersey. As her five children were growing up she took courses at Rutgers University's Camden campus to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude. Even before she had completed her degree, she began a graduate program in library science at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Upon graduation she became the director of the Cherry Hill Public Library in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, enhancing the library's stature by guiding the construction of a new facility by the distinguished architect Malcolm Wells, and adopting computational technologies at a time when few suburban libraries were doing so.

Following her divorce from Mr. Gitomer, she moved to Walnut Creek, California where she served as Assistant Director of the Contra Costa County Library System in the Bay Area. She subsequently held leadership roles in the library systems of Madison, Wisconsin; Phoenix, Arizona, and Paramus, New Jersey, before retiring to her beloved home in Walnut Creek. In her early 90's, to be closer to family, she moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and then to White River Junction, Vermont.

Irene was an avid gardener, lover of books and reading, and lover of the arts. Not only well-versed in classical literature, she was an early enthusiast of fantasy and science fiction at a time when those genres were considered inferior. She was an accomplished cook and baker, but her cookbook collection was even more distinguished than her cooking. As her children were growing up, she encouraged them to study musical instruments and to pursue education. After retirement she frequently traveled to nearby San Francisco for theater, ballet, and concerts. She also traveled the world with the Road Scholar program, even as her mobility became more limited with age.

She is survived by her five children, David (Thomas Klein) Gitomer, Jonathan (Barbara) Gitomer, Philip (Teresa Maone) Gitomer, Ellen (William Koppenheffer) Gitomer, and Daniel (Laurie Steber) Gitomer; five grandchildren, Douglas (Rebecca) Gitomer, Martin (Shelby Snashall) Gitomer, Benjamin (Pamela Niesen) Koppenheffer, Araminta Koppenheffer, and Coren Helene-Gitomer; and one great grandchild, Henry Gitomer.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Bayada Hospice, who provided wonderful support and wisdom during Irene's final months, and the staff of the Village at White River Junction who provided loving care during her two years as a resident.

Donations in memory of Irene may be made to the Lebanon Public Libraries Foundation, 9 E. Park St, Lebanon NH 03766, or at https://leblibrary.com/giving Services have been held.