Kathleen "Kitty" Louise Monahan

Kitty was born in 1932 on Cleaves Avenue in San Jose, the second youngest of five children, and she died at her New Almaden home in 2022. But those facts say nothing of the details of the great impact she had on us, her family, her friends, and on the Santa Clara Valley. Whatever her role in a multitude of interesting and challenging careers and life paths, Kitty was the genuine article; gregarious, strong willed, dedicated, and incredibly resourceful. She left a lasting impression on anyone she met. Her smile, laugh, humor, tenacity, and generosity started with family and extended to her close friends and into her broader community. In the end, Kitty lived her 89 years to the fullest with passion for the people, animals and causes that were dear to her heart.

To complete the picture of what Kitty represented to many in the Santa Clara Valley, we don't have to look far, as she has been heralded as an open space preservation advocate and parks visionary by many during her life and since her passing. She embraced the significance of the past while owning and leading the struggle for a better future-and she fought hard to have those ideals realized. There have been many articles and opinion pieces written about Kitty, and countless awards received for her contributions. We are proud to be Kitty's family, and we will be forever grateful for all she has done, and for the recognition of her accomplishments. Here are a couple of wonderful pieces that showcase those:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/31/kitty-monahan-champion-for-santa-clara-countys-parks-dead-at-89/

https://www.livingalmadenhistory.com/post/kitty-monahan

Growing up with Kitty, as a young person, you knew that whatever was going on in your life, Kitty would be interested in hearing about it. She would greet you by exuberantly saying your name, followed by "Hey, how the heck are ya doing?" She seemed to relate to the challenges, changes, and forward-looking attitudes of young people. It made sense that she chose to teach high school math, and that she was encouraging and tough at the same time. Kitty's own experience attending elementary school at St. Leo's brought out her fire as she defended her brother, Jack, when he would get in trouble with the nuns. Perhaps that made her want to become a nun, herself, and eventually a teacher-so she could improve on the experiences kids had in school.

Kitty was the family historian who seemed to know who'd done what and where in San Jose. Since our family has San Jose roots since the late 1800s, she wanted us to have that connection, and regularly regaled us with our local history and family lore; oftentimes mentioning her great uncle Tommy, a former mayor of San Jose. Kitty also encouraged pride in our family's Irish heritage, handing out Monahan sweatshirts, coffee mugs, and other fun emblemed items at gatherings, and she always relished opportunities to celebrate her beloved mother "Mama" (Violet Monahan, n?e Liebe), who lived to be 103. After Kitty's father died in 1952, Violet-a strong and independent spirit, herself, and once honored at age 102 by the City of San Jose as one of San Jose's oldest citizens-never remarried, but loved to travel, so Kitty brought her on many exciting trips over the years; to Disneyland, Canada, and Hawaii to name a few.

Our "Aunt Kitty" loved sharing her ranch life with her family, always enthusiastic when her siblings and nieces and nephews - and later their children- would scramble up her steep driveway to visit her at her New Almaden home. She allowed them to explore and soak up the rural environment, showing them "the ropes" while teaching many of them how to care for and ride horses. This created an appreciation for a different daily existence just 20 minutes from the more suburban norm. Everyone enjoyed meeting her menagerie of animals, all imaginatively named- one dog having an extended 10-name string, quickly recited by Kitty, ending in "Montana" (after Joe Montana). It was all an adventure for us, and we will never forget it.

We warmly remember Christmas Day family potluck festivities at Kitty's house with the smell of her raviolis and the blare of a 49ers game ushering us in. For Kitty, get togethers were about the process, the procession, the fun. We would have games set up at the holidays whereby, for example, she and her sister Cecile would put together poems about each family member, and in guessing correctly who it was about, you got to pick out a gift. One could always count on Kitty to kick the laughter up a notch at our birthday and holiday parties. But discussions at family gatherings were not always light and breezy, as Kitty was a current events and political discourse artist who relished a good challenge. There were those times when her wit would cut through a thick tension like nobody's business, and it would invariably surprise and delight us. A solid message, well timed, and with the right comic zing was her hallmark. That, and a cheerfully served hot toddy.

Kitty will be missed and treasured by family and friends, and her legacy will live on. She is predeceased by her mother Violet Ruth Monahan (Liebe) and her father James Patrick Monahan, brothers Jack (wife Pat, son Gregory) and Eugene (wife Mary, son David) Monahan, and sister Cecile Schaeffer (husband Francis, daughter Maura, son Jim) and sister-in-law Judith Monahan. Kitty is survived by her brother Richard Monahan, and many nieces and nephews: Kathleen "Katie" Jaramillo (Schaeffer), Ian Monahan, Sean Monahan, Jeffrey Monahan, Matthew Monahan, Eileen Monahan, Timothy Monahan, Karen Monahan, Kevin Monahan, Lisa Monahan-Smith, and Michael Monahan, along with spouses and a lively gaggle of great nieces and nephews.