Marie Monohon

Marie Louise Pehl Monohon

Marie was born, raised and passed in the little valley town of Menlo, Washington. Born February 5, 1931, she left us peacefully, at her home January 8, 2023.

Mom was born and grew up in Menlo on a small dairy farm along South Fork River of her parents Edmund and Marie A (Richter) Pehl (both preceded in death). Along with her brother Walt Pehl (deceased) and sister Wanda (Pehl) Jackson (Long Beach) enjoying the country farm life.

She graduated from Willapa Valley High School in 1948. She married Howard J Monohon (preceded her in death) August 27, 1949 in the immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Raymond, Washington.

As a young woman she worked as a bank teller at the Seattle First National Bank in Raymond, Washington. She had a daughter, Marie T Wilson (The Dalles, OR) May 1951 and then a son, William H Monohon (Menlo, WA) July 1954. She went back to work at Seattle First National for a while, then made the decision to stay home to raise the family. Marie also has two granddaughters, son in law and a great granddaughter and grandson, all in The Dalles, Oregon.

As the children grew older, Marie returned to work as a USPS rural carrier substitute for many years. Eventually, she became a permanent employee and worked a total of 21.5 years as a rural route carrier out of Raymond on all three rural routes. Mostly all gravel roads in her days and she was excellent at changing tires!

Mom loved gardening and all sorts of flowers and vegetables. She canned all the summer goods for the table throughout the year. She was a founding member of the Valley Blue Jeans Garden Club and worked long hours during the fair in the floral barn and planting flowers around the grounds, as well as keeping flower beds at the school looking good. Marie was a lifetime member of the Lewis Pacific Swiss Society and served as a secretary 1964-68 and treasurer 1970-1981. A member of the Catholic Church and the Alter Society. A 4-H leader for many years teaching so many skills on how to sew, bake, cook, and garden. She was a member for many years of the Willapa Valley Booster Club. She took great pride in the WV Alumni Scholarship program and did what she could to promote scholarships for the students.

Mom and dad both loved going to all of the school sports activities long after their kids had graduated. You couldn't miss them along with the Inglin, Clements, Huber and crew, or others, packed in cars heading out...

Mom was a force to be reckoned with... as many of you know and can appreciate! She will be missed!

Remembrances:

Lewis Pacific Swiss Society:

Patti Gwerder, 331 Elk Prairie Rd, Raymond, WA, 98577

Willapa Valley Alumni Association:

P.O. Box 128, Menlo, WA, 98561

Wm. Monohon:

P.O. Box 202, Menlo, WA, 98577

My Mom

She gave me life...

She held my hand...

She wiped my tears...

She taught me things...

She paddled my ass...

She taught me how to swim at the river...

She gave me joy...

She taught me manners...

She gave me the love of gardening...

She taught me respect...

She allowed me to grow...

She tried to get me to eat asparagus and parsnips...

She gave me determination...

She gave me a bit of her stubbornness...

                  ...well maybe a bit more than a bit!

She gave me help...

She gave me pride to be who I am...

She fostered my love of dance...

She taught me resilience...

She accepted her grand dogs as my children...

She taught me to work for what I wanted...

She loved me, though she rarely said it or gave me a hug as I grew older...

I felt loved...

She gave me strength...

She was my mother...

She had my heart...

Now she teaches me to let go...

Bye is so little to say mom...

I love you...

Your son...

WHM