Elizabeth Monagle

Elizabeth Brette Monagle passed away peacefully at her home in Las Cruces at the age of 83. She is survived by her five children, daughters Lisa and Cathy, sons Sean, John, and Matthew, (wife Leslie, nee Vandergust), and five grandchildren, Simona, Alessia, and Stefan (Trevisan) and Levi and Noah (Monagle).
Brette was born in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York, on March 20, 1931, to James Russell and Phyllis Nolan. She attended Skidmore and Marymount Manhattan, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts in History in June 1953. In August of 1954, Brette married the love of her life, John "Jack" Monagle and they moved to Chicago and had their first son. Over the next five years while living in Claymont, Delaware, three more children followed, Lisa, Cathy, and John Russell. They moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1961, where Jack accepted a position as an Associate Professor in Chemistry at New Mexico State University. In 1964, their youngest son, Matthew, was born.
Brette had many interests and was a voracious reader. She earned a Master of Arts degree in English Literature, another in Technical Writing, and was All But Dissertation in the field of Rhetoric and Composition. She taught Composition and Technical Writing at New Mexico State University and also served as a Faculty member at the University of Louisiana in Monroe, Lousiana in 1990.
She was fascinated by countries and cultures and travelled, together with her family in many instances, to more than 40 countries on six continents. Her husband and she were also avid tennis fans and together they attended major tennis opens around the world, including tournaments in Paris, Australia, Canada, America and England. Brette was passionate about politics, community and world affairs and in 1994 ran as a Democrat for State Representative in a conservative, Republican district.
Brette had a passion for writing and wrote novels and short stories. She had an investigative and analytical mind and enjoyed working with the stock market. She was an animal lover and rescued scores of dogs over her lifetime. She was also a lover of the arts, opera, symphony, ballet and film and shared this love with her children and grandchildren. Other passions included living abroad (England in 1974, Egypt from 1984 -1988, and Pakistan from 1990- 1994) and donating her stock profits to charities caring for women, children, animals, refugees, the impoverished and the preservation of nature. Brette and Jack ultimately returned to their beloved Las Cruces for retirement, where Jack passed away in August, 2014.
Brette was deeply loved and is gratefully remembered by all of her children, her daughter -in -law, and her grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the John J. Monagle Fund in the Department of Chemistry would be gratefully received. Please contact Mary Wiggs at (575) 646 -5877.