1926 - 2019
Geraldine Cassutt Monahan, charity activist and retired school teacher, died November 12, 2019, in San Diego, CA. She was 93 years old.
Gerry was predeceased by her husband of 61 years, Harry. She is survived by: her children Terry (Jean) of San Marcos, CA; Gary (Ann Marie), Peggy, and Maura, all of San Diego; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
She was born on September 19, 1926, in San Diego, CA. Although she lived some of her early years in Rochester, MN, she graduated from the Academy of Our Lady of Peace in San Diego in 1944. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Saint Mary’s College, Los Angeles, CA, in 1948 and joined the faculty of Regina Caeli Academy, a parochial high school in San Diego.
She married Harry E. Monahan on December 28, 1949, at St. Didacus Catholic Church in San Diego, and moved to South Bend, IN, where her new husband was a senior at the University of Notre Dame. Their two sons were born in South Bend while Harry was working as a sportswriter for the South Bend Tribune. They returned to San Diego in 1953, when he took a sportswriting position with the San Diego Union. Their two daughters were born in San Diego.
During the 20 years the children were in elementary and high schools in San Diego, Gerry was an active member of the Mothers’ Club at St. Didacus elementary school, the Austin Guild at St. Augustine High School, and the parent and alumni associations at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace. She served one term as president for each of these organizations.
In October 1975, with the youngest child in college, the Monahans moved to San Juan Capistrano, CA, to be closer to Harry’s job. Gerry resumed her teaching career in the fall of 1977 with a two-year stint teaching sixth grade at the Mission San Juan Capistrano elementary school. The next eight years, she was a guest lecturer on water conservation at various Orange County high schools on behalf of the Municipal Water District of Orange County.
During this same period, she volunteered time for parish activities at the Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano. In addition to being a lay lector, she organized and managed religious education classes for children and adults and served on the parish liturgy committee.
Upon leaving the lecture circuit in 1988, Gerry volunteered at the St. Vincent De Paul store in San Juan Capistrano before assuming the directorship of Serra’s Pantry, a food and clothing distribution project sponsored by Mission San Juan Capistrano to help needy families. She retired from the pantry in 2005. At the same time, she was an active member of the Catholic Charities Auxiliary of Orange County and of the Orange County Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, serving a term as president for both organizations.
As president of the Auxiliary in 1994, she was an automatic member of the board of directors of Catholic Charities of Orange County; she was asked to serve a second term on the board in 2003. At the request of Mission Hospital officials, she served briefly on the board of the Camino Health Clinic in San Juan Capistrano. In 2007, she became a member of the board supervising the Casa Santa Maria senior housing facility in Buena Park, a project of the Catholic Diocese of Orange.
In recognition of her charity activities, Gerry received the Spirit Award for Justice from the Mission Hospital Foundation in 2002, the Mayor’s Award as Volunteer Leader of the Year from the City of San Juan Capistrano in 2004, and was named Catholic Woman of the Year by the Catholic Charities Auxiliary of Orange County in 2006.
In retirement, the Monahans traveled often to some of their favorite destinations: Hawaii; Las Vegas, Loughlin, NV, and Valley Center, CA, for casino action; South Bend for Notre Dame football games; and San Diego to visit family and friends.
After Harry’s death in 2011, Gerry continued her volunteer work with Mission San Juan Capistrano, sponsoring a candidate received into the Catholic Church at an Easter vigil ceremony. She also continued her association with the Catholic Charities Auxiliary of Orange County, attending various functions sponsored by the group.
In February 2017, Gerry returned to San Diego to be closer to family and friends, residing at Nazareth House in Mission Valley, where she made new friends, sometimes served as a lector at Mass in the chapel, and did her best to break the bank at bingo.
A Celebration of Life will be offered at the Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano on Monday, December 9, at 11 A.M. Private interment will be at Ascension Cemetery in Orange County.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Serra’s Pantry in San Juan Capistrano, CA, or to the Academy of Our Lady of Peace in San Diego.
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