Joanne Monahan Obituary

Joanne Marie (Adams) Monahan, 82, died peacefully Oct 29, 2024 at Taylor Hospice House, Des Moines, IA, with family by her side.

Born April 17,1942 to Marguerite and Richard Adams in Minneapolis, MN but moving to the country at a young age, she spent 8 years of elementary school at St. Stephen's Grade School in Anoka, MN. She enjoyed teenage summers visiting grandmother and picking raspberries for a local farmer, using her income to buy her first Schwinn bike. Joanne graduated from Anoka Senior High School, Anoka, MN, in 1960. Afterward, she enrolled in evening art school and served in military (Army) boot camp in Fort Dix, NJ, where she met and married Dennis Monahan in 1962. After living a few months with Dennis’ parents in Pittsburgh, PA, Joanne and Dennis moved to Des Moines, IA, where they raised 6 children and lived for the remainder of their lives.

Joanne worked part time as an elementary school remedial math teacher, retail store clerk, cosmetics sales representative, and homemaker while raising her children. In later years, she assisted a magazine publisher, and her longest career was at the U.S. Post office where she worked until retirement in 2009. She enjoyed retirement, spending time gardening, painting, walking, and visiting with family and friends.

Most valuable to Joanne were her family and her Christian faith. Joanne avidly attended Catholic Mass in Des Moines at St Peter Catholic Church (where her children attended elementary school), then in later years Holy Family Church and St Joseph Church. Joanne recited the rosary prayer beads daily. She devoted much of her time as a caregiver to family members. She was known to family and friends as extremely empathetic, optimistic, and caring, with a touch of good-hearted stubbornness.

Joanne is survived by her sons Patrick (spouse Gwen), Mark, James, William (spouse Karol Rivera-Monahan), and Matthew Monahan; grandchildren Armando, Emilio, and Joanna Monahan; sisters Marilyn Hedlund, Kathleen Coon, Marcia Adams, Marie Johnson, and Frances Johnson; and 19 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dennis; her son John Monahan; her parents Marguerite and Richard; her grandparents Marie and Paul Adams, and Frances and Ernest Harper; and her brothers Richard, Paul, and John, and sister Virginia.

A Prayer Vigil will begin at 5:30pm, Saturday, November 2, 2024, at Iles Grandview Park Chapel, 3211 Hubbell Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50317 with the family greeting friends following that from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

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