We grieve the passing of a good and gentle woman. Throughout her 97½ years she never ran out of kindness. If you knew Mona Reynolds you were her friend.
Her family’s roots are still deep in the soil of southeastern Idaho. She was born on March 9, 1926, inside a small farmhouse in Egin, Idaho, the 3rd daughter of George and Jennie Bradshaw. After Mona came 2 more daughters and then 2 sons. Two others died in infancy. The Bradshaw’s lived on the edge of poverty, but there was laughter and love and just enough to get them through the hardest times.
Like all her siblings, Mona attended the three-room schoolhouse in Egin, completing the 8th grade. She graduated from high school in St. Anthony, where she met and began dating the big man on campus, Dick Reynolds. At the end of their senior year World War II split them up. Dick enlisted in the Navy, eventually assigned to Guam, and Mona enlisted in the Cadet Nurse Corp, entering the Sisters of Charity School of Nursing in Helena, Montana. This was the furthest she had ever been from her family. But she soon met good friends – some who lasted a lifetime. Mona wrote, “I don’t know just why I chose nursing. I guess the best reason was that it was a way to continue my education and prepare myself for the future.” She brought to her studies compassion and a heart full of care. During her training with the Sisters, Mona joined the Catholic Church, which became a pillar of faith and spiritual support throughout her life.
The war ended and Dick hurried home to reconnect with the love of his life. He wasted little time before proposing and they were married September 27, 1947, at the Catholic Church in St. Anthony. Immediately after their wedding they left for Palo Alto, California, where Dick was attending Stanford University. Mona began her nursing career at Stanford Memorial Hospital.
Dick quit his studies when their first son, Brad, was born and began his long career in sales. Mona stayed home to raise their son, followed two years later by their daughter, Teresa (Terri). Their third child, Bill, was born five years later.
Moving was a constant for the Reynolds family as Dick changed jobs several times, working at a motel for his father, then as manager of a men’s clothing store, a business liquidation venture and then with Albertson’s Foods. They lived in three different towns in southern California before moving to St. Anthony, and then Nampa, Idaho; Longview, Washington, Salem and Beaverton, Oregon; Spokane and Edmonds, Washington. If Mona felt any stress or strain in all those relocations, she never let it get in the way of caring for her family. She occasionally returned to nursing to help out when times were tough.
In 1970, Dick quit Albertson’s and, with a partner, bought Northern Merchandise Company. It became quite successful and after all their years of effort Dick and Mona were able to enjoy some financial security. After ten years they sold the business and moved into a home they built at Shelter Bay, in La Conner, Washington.
They joined the Shelter Bay Yacht Club and went through a succession of boats – each one a little larger than the last. Mona loved being on the water, enjoying fishing, crabbing, and cruising with a flotilla of friends. They became active members of Sacred Heart Parish in La Conner and helped spearhead the renovation of the church. They bought a fifth-wheel trailer and began traveling the United States. They also took several trips to Mexico and Europe with good friends.
Mona loved being with people; first and foremost her family, but also spending time with her relatives and with her many friends. She always made sure their home was open and ready for whoever dropped by. Mona welcomed everyone with grace, humor and style. She loved decorating for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, and cooked delicious feasts for each occasion. The more guests she could crowd around her table, the better. She relished spending time with her three children, her four grandchildren and her five great grandchildren.
In 2000 they sold their home in Shelter Bay and moved to Mt. Vernon, Washington. Health concerns dictated finding someplace closer to medical care. But they were far from slowing down. They joined the Immaculate Conception parish community, and they continued socializing with their family and friends and traveling as often as they could. They spent their winters in California and later, Arizona.
They were in Sun City, Arizona when Dick died in 2012. Mona returned to their home in Mt. Vernon and lived there three more years before selling the house and moving into a condominium. Despite failing eyesight and her own health issues, she kept up an active social life, dining out with her friends, visiting her children, and even traveling back to Idaho several times to see her family. She was never happier than when she was with people she loved. And whenever she could, she continued preparing meals for her family, often ending with a homemade pie.
Her older sister celebrated her 100th birthday in July, and Mona traveled by car to Utah with her children for the celebration. But shortly after returning home her health began to rapidly decline and, after a few weeks of illness, she died peacefully on September 25, 2023.
Someone has said that if you gathered together all the people who loved Mona Reynolds, you could fill a stadium. That may be a slight exaggeration. But there is no question that Mona lived a full life, loving and caring for all those she met along the way. And those people responded in kind. She was good and gentle, with a heart overflowing with kindness and compassion. She was deeply loved and will be deeply missed
Missed especially by her children, Brad Reynolds, Terri and her husband, Dale Colbert, Bill Reynolds and his wife, Karen. She will also be missed by her grandchildren; John Robinson and his wife, Amy; Kim Taylor and her husband, James; Jeff Reynolds and his wife, Piper; and Jenny Reynolds. And her great grandchildren as well: Aidan, Wyatt, Ruby, Dawson and Pema. She leaves behind three siblings who will miss her: Lauranna Porter, Verla Archibald, and Neale Bradshaw; plus numerous nieces and nephews.
A contemporary of Mona’s observed that, “Grief is the price we pay for love.” Given the depth of Mona’s love for all of us, it is a price worth paying.
The family requests that memorials be gifted to one of the following:
Washington Talking Book & Braille Library, 206-615-0400; www.wtbbl.org .
Or to Macular Degeneration Research, 301-556-9362; www.brightfocus.org .
Please visit www.hawthornefh.com to share your thoughts and memories and sign the online guest register.
Arrangements are under the care of Hawthorne Funeral Home, Mount Vernon, WA.
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