Rona J Monahan

Rona Flaherty Monahan was sitting peacefully admiring tropical fish and a lovely garden view when she passed on August 19, 2023. At the time of her passing, she had joy in her life with the many visits of her youngest son, Lee, and as Rona liked to say, his “3 girls”, and her many calls with her middle son, Mark, and her eldest son, Ed. She loved and doted on them all. Rona had been looking forward to her late husband’s Celebration of Life in New England on August 26 with family and friends.

Rona was born on April 24,1936 in New York City to merchant marine Captain Roland Flaherty and his wife, Ethel. At age 5 she moved to Seattle, Washington. Rona grew up in the Magnolia Hill District overlooking Puget Sound where she formed a lifelong connection to the ocean.

She met the love of her life, Edward J. Monahan, LTC US Army (Ret.) at Fort Lawton while she was cashiering at the Officer’s Club. They married on August 1,1959 and had 3 boys, Edward (Karen), Mark, and Lee (Carol). They were blessed with 6 grandchildren, Kelly, Brian, Kevin, and Shannon from Ed and 2 wonderful grandchildren, Grace and Katelyn from Lee and one great grandson, Lincoln, son of Brian. She was also blessed with many nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews from the Monahan side of the family.

Rona loved her children and grandchildren with her whole heart and did everything in her power to forge a strong relationship with them. Rona shared her love of nature and the ocean and a sense of adventure with them, and more importantly, she gave them unconditional love and total support. During her husband’s tours of duty overseas, she maintained the family household and provided structure to her sons. She loved spending vacations and holidays with her sons and their families. She truly gave the gift of time to her family. Some of her favorite family gathering quotes were: “You guys!”, “You are so sweet!”, “Bless your heart!”, “I love you”, “You treat me so well”, “Thank you”, “Your table is beautiful”, “What a good meal!”. She would spend hours with granddaughters Grace and Katelyn baking, playing piano, and drawing. Rona treated her daughter-in-law Carol as the daughter she never had.

Rona was one of those rare human beings who had a compliment and a hug for everyone she met. She was popular with people because she always had a kind word and a smile for everyone. She was warm and could make you feel like there was no one in the world quite like you and that you were wonderful. Her big heart extended to her family and beyond, she gave to many causes from The Seeing Eye to the ASPCA. Rona traveled extensively including trips to Australia, Israel, Russia, China and Europe, on river cruises and cruises in the Caribbean and family trips to Disney with Ed, or her college friend Bev Hanson or her sons and their families. Rona was a prolific quilter, making quilts for the growing extended family and later donating her sewing skills for newborns in need. She was also a painter and budding pianist. Rona had a love of creating things - including building a contemporary home in Rhode Island and a modern Villa home in Florida.

Second to her love of family and friends was her love of food. Rona loved to bake and her peanut blossoms and Christmas cookies were a huge hit. She perfected the chocolate chip cookie and made them for her friends and members of her community in Florida. She loved a good Dunkin Donuts Frozen Coffee (blaming her daughter-in-law Carol for getting her hooked on them). She loved to go out to eat and try new food - as long as it did not include beets, squash, turnips or sweet potatoes.

Rona was a lover of animals. She was a serial cat owner and mother to Thomasina, Merlin, Gandolf, Simba, Charlie, Joy, and Stoli. She loved cats on cards, cats on quilting fabric and clothes, and a cat nestled in her lap. Rona was equally popular with dogs. When Rona visited her son Lee, his normally standoffish Husky mix, Peach, was won over by Rona. Peach always greeted Rona with a huge tail wag, gave a friendly nudge to Rona’s thigh for attention and spent Rona’s visits at her side and nights in Rona’s bed.

Rona loved water and loved to live alongside it. The pool at her home in Rhode Island got extensive use by her and her immediate and extended family. Rona and her loving husband, Ed, lived for a time in a condominium overlooking the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. The Florida house opened onto a lake complete with alligator and magnificent sunset views. Rona loved to swim, doing water aerobics daily for years, and swimming in the ocean with a noodle. She was a prolific walker, taking early morning walks with her friends and enjoying strolls on the beach with her family.

In honor of the bright light that Rona was in the universe, we would like to share her Peanut Blossom recipe - a fan favorite:

Peanut Blossoms

1 3/4 Cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 Cup shortening

1/2 Cup peanut butter

1/2 Cup sugar

1. Position oven racks in the top third and center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees.

2. Spray 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

4. In a large bowl, beat the shortening (butter), peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar with a mixer set

on high speed until combined and fluffy - about 2 minutes.

5. Beat in the egg and milk.

6. Roll dough into 24 Tbs-sized balls and then roll the dough in the 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl.

7. Place 12 cookies on each cookie sheet.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

9. As soon as the cookies are removed from the oven, press a Hershey’s kiss into each cookie ball -

the edges will crack a bit.

10. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 60s, with a spatula place cookies on a cookie rack.

Please make these in her memory in health and happiness. A Celebration of Life was held on August 26, 2023 for Rona and Edward with a burial ceremony planned in the future. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for a donation made in her honor to the ASPCA or The Seeing Eye of Morristown.