Michael Irving, 79, Was Navy Veteran, Architect

Michael H. Irving died Tuesday, Jan. 7, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston at the age of 79.

He was born on August 2, 1923 in New York city, the son of Evelyn duPont Irving and Carolyn Mann Irving. He was a graduate of the Buckley School in New York, the St. Paul School in Concord, N.H., and Harvard University. Mr. Irving obtained his master's degree in architecture from Columbia University, and was one of the architects who designed of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, where he was a member of the board of directors emeritus. He was a partner in the firm of Irving and Jacob Architects, of Norwalk, Conn., before his retirement in 1988.

A veteran of World War II, he served in the United States Navy. Mr. Irving was an avid sailor and enjoyed Martha's Vineyard, where he and his wife had summered for the past two decades. In 1997 they purchased a home in Oak Bluffs. He was an accomplished watercolorist, and served with delight as a docent with the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Conn. He loved to fish and read.

Survivors include his wife, Patricia Luces Irving; his children, Michelle Evans of San Raphael, Calif., Duncan Irving of Darien, Conn., MacCulloch Irving of Larchmont, N.Y., and Fiona Donovan of New York city; his stepchildren, Sabrina Goldberg of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Nancy Meinelschmidt of Los Angeles, Calif.; a brother, Alexander Irving of South Hampton, NY; nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and three step-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother, John Irving.

Funeral services were held in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Edgartown at 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 13, officiated by the Rev. Thomas Pike and Robert Edmonds. Donations may be made in his memory to the Visiting Nurse Association, P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557. Arrangements are by the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.