To the Memory of Irene J

This website is dedicated to the memory of Irene J. Dilks. While the members of the Charleston County Republican Party never knew Irene, it was her actions that directly contributed to the Charleston County Republican Party having this website developed.

It started during the late sixties when Ken Dilks, this website's webmaster, was working on a NATO system design in England when he met Irene. They married and Ken brought her to his native country of the United States in 1968. She, never in her widest dreams, ever imagined leaving England and moving to the United States.

To say her political views were apolitical would be, almost, a British understatement. She knew very little about the British system of government and knew absolutely nothing about American system of government. In fact, she considered history a real bore during school, a fact she regretted many times during the later years of her life.

Her interest in politics began during the Watergate hearings during the early seventies. She also began to listen to the Tom Braden-Pat Buchanan original Crossfire radio show. It was while listening to this daily debate on radio when she began to develop her conservative beliefs. It continued its development through the Reagan years and through the first Bush years. She then became a C-Span junky. She could be listening to either the House or the Senate and by the mere sound of their voice, she could identify who the congressman or senator was, whether they were Republican or Democrat, and whether she liked them or not. Her most exciting times were listening to the house and senate proceedings and their corresponding committee hearings.

By the year 2000, she became so afraid that Al Gore may become elected president, she decided, after living in the United States as a resident alien for 32 years, she was going to become a citizen of the United States. (The Naturalization Study Guide portion of this website, albeit updated to reflect the current elected and appointed officials, was developed to help her study for the citizenship examination that every prospective American citizen has to take.) When she took the test in Greer, SC, she stated she missed two questions. She did not know her telephone number and her zip code. She was, however, able to answer all the citizenship questions correctly. Later during 2000, she was sworn in as a citizen in Atlanta, GA. To this day, we do not know whether Irene voted for George W. Bush or against Al Gore that November 2000.

She had become extremely knowledgeable about American politics, the Republican Party of which she was very proud, and about the conservative issues we support. She would discuss conservative issues with all she met, trying to convince them of why they should also be conservatives and Republicans. She was not, however, physically able to participate.

She voted for the last time at the Republican Primary runoff on June 22, 2004. As she was leaving the building, she was approached by a member of the Charleston County Republican Party to become a volunteer for the forthcoming fall elections for 2004. She said she would be happy to volunteer even though she would have to restrict the amount of time she could volunteer.

The last picture of Irene and Ken

She was unable to fulfill her commitment to volunteer since she died on July 29, 2004.

About one month after her death, her husband, Ken, called Cyndi Mosteller and said he would fulfill Irene's commitment to volunteer. He no longer had to stay at home to take care of her and being busy would be good for the healing process. Ken has since become a steady member of the Charleston County Republican Party ever since.

During 2005, Cyndi asked Ken to develop this website which he did. It is obvious that if Irene had not volunteered on June 22, 2004, Ken may never had volunteered to replace her commitment and therefore, the website would not be what it is.

After the demonstration of the website to the executive committee on Monday evening, November 14, 2005, it was decided to dedicate this website to Irene. This page is that dedication.

Calendars

2007

2008

Newsletters

Resolutions

Photo Gallery

Contributions

Elected Officials

Federal

State

State Senate

State House