Barbara Bradford Monning

Barbara was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Pasadena, Ca. She was pre-deceased by her parents, Maj. Gen. John C. Monning and Laura Elizabeth Wheeler Monning. Her mother was a longtime resident of Carmel, Ca., as a child and after the death of Gen. Monning moved back to Carmel. Barbara’s maternal grandparents, Willard and Laura Greene Wheeler, moved to Carmel in the late 1920s from Cleveland, Oh.

Barbara graduated from John Muir High School in Pasadena in 1966 and attended Mills College in Oakland. She was an accomplished artist who worked with clay, watercolors, oils, and collage. Her art was displayed at local art exhibits sponsored by Breakthrough H’Art of Interim, Inc.; Hartnell College; the West End Festival; the Monterey Museum of Art; the Pacific Grove Art Center; and the Monterey County Fair Art Contest, for which she received multiple recognitions over the years. She was proud to be a featured artist in the Carmel Pine Cone in 2021. Her ceramics collection included starfish, food items, and clay haystacks à la Claude Monet. She was particularly appreciative of the support of artist Gary Smith and for an artists’ workshop she attended at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

In addition to her lifelong involvement with the arts, Barbara was a longtime member of the Salinas French Club, with which she continued to meet using Zoom connections during the Covid pandemic. She loved French art, music, and films and joined members of the Hartnell College French Club to travel to Paris, France in the early 2000s.

Barbara faced mental health challenges her entire adult life and achieved a level of independence through the support of Interim, Inc., which helped her to attain her own apartment. The Interim community gave Barbara far more than housing; it gave her autonomy, self-respect, and dignity.

Barbara developed and sustained many lifetime friendships. She was a regular correspondent and wrote letters to family and friends until days before her passing. Her beautiful penmanship was another example of her artistic talent.

Barbara was a member of the congregation at All Saints’ Church in Carmel where she managed to attend services even after she was wheelchair bound. She was a regular user of the Monterey-Salinas Transit bus service including the Monterey Rides van for the disabled.

Barbara is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Bill Monning and Dana Kent of Carmel; her nieces Laura Kent-Monning (Kevin Smith ) of Oakland and Alexandra Kent-Monning of Brooklyn, NY; her great-nieces and -nephew Riley Rosalia, Sullivan Fernando, and Shaye Alicia, along with many beloved cousins.

The family wants to thank Barbara’s communities of support including Interim, Inc.; Monterey County Behavioral Health; the Salinas French Club; Scholze Park Senior Center; IHSS caregivers; Drake House; Cypress Ridge Care Center; and the doctors and nursing staff at CHOMP who cared for her during her final illness. The family encourages memorial contributions to Interim, Inc., 604 Pearl Street, Monterey, Ca. 93940. A memorial service is pending. Arrangements with the Paul Mortuary.