Irene Roslyn Melton Palnick
Irene Roslyn Melton Palnick
Iowa City
Irene Roslyn Melton Palnick, devoted wife and mother, a pioneer certified public accountant, and a dedicated supporter of charities and progressive political causes, died Tuesday, July 30, 2024. She was 90.
In an era when few women worked as CPAs, Irene co-founded her own firm in Arkansas and focused on supporting community non-profit organizations in the state. Her career was only part of a life-long commitment to public school integration and all issues of equality and inclusion.
Irene was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, to parents who emigrated from Lithuania after World War I to avoid antisemitism. She graduated with a degree in Commerce from McGill University, one of the first women graduates with a business degree. While treasurer of the McGill Hillel Jewish student organization, she met Elijah “Zeke” Palnick. Irene and Zeke were married in 1955 and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Zeke attended seminary at Hebrew Union College. Irene worked as a bookkeeper to support the family throughout this period.
After Zeke’s ordination, the couple moved to Miami, then Tuscaloosa, Alabama, before settling in Little Rock, Arkansas. Irene enjoyed her role as a rabbi’s wife and participated in congregational life while raising her two children. She also became active in the community, working with the women who organized in support of integrating the Little Rock school system and took action to protect the right to vote.
In addition to her civil rights work in Little Rock, Irene was active in the sisterhoods of various congregations, the National Organization for Women and Planned Parenthood, amongst others; volunteered at St. Vincent’s Infirmary; and served on the board of the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberty Union.
When her children reached school age, Irene returned to college at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and received a master’s degree in taxation. She passed the CPA exam on her first try, becoming one of the few female CPAs in Arkansas.
In part because traditional firms in Arkansas resisted hiring a female CPA, Irene became controller at Philander Smith College, an historically black college in Little Rock. Irene started her own practice with retired Air Force Colonel George Mobbs.
Mobbs and Palnick serviced a variety of clients, with a special emphasis on community non-profit organizations. Their client list included seminal non-profits Legal Services of Arkansas and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Irene also served as a member of the Arkansas Advisory Panel of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Their accounting firm grew and merged with Bruce Engstrom and Bob Digby to make Engstrom, Digby, Mobbs and Palnick.
After a long stay in Little Rock, Irene and Zeke moved to Albany, Georgia, where she joined the regional accounting firm Mauldin and Jenkins. After retirement, she was treasurer of the National Association of Retired Reformed Rabbis and local institutions Sigma Delta Tau and the Albany Museum.
Eventually, the couple moved to be near family in Iowa City, Iowa, and wintered in Delray Beach, Florida. After Zeke died in 2005, Irene shared her life for many years with her friend Lewis Rosenthal, traveling and dancing away the evenings.
Irene loved to travel and see the world. She had friends everywhere, and she made friends everywhere she went. She spent countless summers in the mountains of New Mexico at Philmont National Scout Ranch where Zeke was the Jewish chaplain and Irene helped him take care of the Jewish scouts. She even worked as a staff member herself.
Irene Palnick was born to William “Bill” Melton and Sarah Kukoff Melton on November 21, 1933. She was preceded in death by her husband, Rabbi Elijah “Zeke” Palnick. She is survived by son Lazar Palnick, daughter Rachelle Palnick Tsachor, daughter-in-law Susanne Gollin, grandchildren Naomi Tsachor, Jacob Palnick, Doron Tsachor, Muriel Grubb, and sister-in-law Ena Hertz.
The funeral service will be held at 2 PM, August 1, 2024 at Agudas Achim congregation in Iowa City with interment at the Agudas Achim cemetery. The family will sit shiva in Iowa City and Oak Park, IL. More information regarding the times of Shiva may be found at www.lensingfuneral.com.
The family welcomes contributions to The Zeke and Irene Palnick Porch Talk Fund, Philmont Staff Association, 17 Deer Run Rd., Cimarron, NM 87714.
Additional giving options are available on the association’s website, https://philstaff.org/