Carol Jean Monson

Carol Jean (Gillroy) Monson left this world on Saturday, March 22nd at HCA Florida Citrus Hospital in Inverness, Florida. Carol was born July 18, 1950 in Spalding, Nebraska, the fourth of seven children of Murt and Eileen (Zwiener) Gillroy. Carol was baptized and attended church at St. Michael’s in Spalding.

Carol attended Cedar Valley, a rural one room schoolhouse, for all of her elementary education. While attending Cedar Valley she excelled at both academics and sports, she won many accolades in track at the county track meets.

Carol attended Sacred Heart High School in Greeley, Nebraska for her first two years of high school. After her family moved to a farm in Missouri, she transferred to Leeton High School, where she graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 1968.

Carol continued her education at Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg, Missouri, where she completed a degree in dietetics. After obtaining her degree she took a job at Menorah Medical Center in Kansas City.

While in Kansas City, Carol met her former husband Tony and they were married in Warrensburg, Missouri. They moved together to Des Moines, Iowa and she took the first of her many adventures outside of the continental US when Tony was deployed to Hawaii. After their much loved time in Hawaii, they moved to Ft. Hood, Texas, then to New York City, and then to Sicily. She took a quick detour to Germany to give birth to her daughter, Sarah, and returned to Sicily. After that, the family moved to Enid, Oklahoma and then Fayetteville, North Carolina. During their time in North Carolina, Carol and Sarah briefly moved to Osan Air Base in South Korea to be with Tony where he was deployed.

Carol was a devoted mother and made every effort possible to give Sarah the best life, including commuting to South Carolina during the week to work at the Montessori school Sarah attended and returning on the weekends to North Carolina.

In 2000, Carol and Sarah moved to Tampa, Florida, where Carol began working at the Montessori House Day School. Over the next 20 years, she touched the lives of countless children and families with her warm spirit, kindness, and quiet dedication. She loved getting to know the kids, always made sure the classroom pets were clean and happy, and she kept close friendships with her coworkers. She had an incredibly strong work ethic and was proud of the work she did and relationships she built there.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Murt and Eileen Grillroy, and one brother, Anthony Gillroy. Surviving Carol is her daughter Sarah and son-in-law Sharief Selim of Verona, Wisconsin; sisters, Marilyn Langguth and Margaret VanWinkle, of Warrensburg, Missouri; brother Jerry (MinCha) Gillroy of Louisville, Kentucky; sister, Joan Lerda and brother, Dennis (Renia) Gillroy, of Holden, Missouri. Also left with loving memories of Carol are her many nieces and nephews, and by Sarah's best friend, Lindsay Saldana, who Carol considered a bonus daughter.

Carol will always be remembered for her loving and generous heart. She was a lifelong adventurer and independent spirit, never letting anything get in her way of helping others. She would go the extra mile for everyone she loved, doing favors for friends and family without a second thought. She encouraged others to share as openly as she did and always left places and people better than she found them. She showed kindness and love to all living things, making sure the neighborhood cats were fed, and even the opossum didn't go hungry! She loved nature and would always stop to appreciate a beautiful rainbow. She was a talented cook, especially green bean casserole at Thanksgiving. She was an incredible mother who gave the best advice and provided the best model for how to live authentically and love fearlessly.

She was such a giving person in all that she did. She loved shopping in anticipation of giving to family and friends. She was always thinking of others, and it was not unusual to find gifted items tucked here and there after she had made a visit. She showed her love through her actions each and every day, and she was deeply loved by those who were lucky enough to know her.

Carol was a beautiful light to the world, she will be dearly missed.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Hope Children's Home which was Carol's favorite charity. https://hopechildrenshome.org