Mona Dittamore

In Loving Memory of Mona Dittamore

Mona was born on November 3rd, 1950 to Roy and Linnie Mae Ashby in Houston Texas, at Heights Hospital.

She was a happy, sweet, photogenic baby and little girl, producing contest-winning baby pictures of the kind rarely seen today. Loved very much by both parents, they nevertheless could not make their young marriage work, so were separated and divorced. Mona lived a happy life with her mother and maternal grandmother during her young childhood in Houston's Heights district, but at the same time enjoyed a close relationship with her father and was adored by her paternal grandmother, Hazel Ashby.

Later in childhood, Mona's mother Linn was married again to Bob Elliot, a decorated US naval officer also from Houston. This set Mona on track for a big adventure, which took her from Houston, to places like San Diego, Japan, Hawaii and Key West. She crossed the international dateline by ship at least three times, earning her 'Golden Dragon' like so many other military children of the day.

Mona retained for all her a life a close emotional connection and love for these stints away from Texas, especially for both Hawaii and Key West, where she spent some of the best years of her young life. Hawaii, where she spent junior high and early high school, always remained 'perfection' in her mind's eye, and she was even lucky enough to revisit later as an adult. Mona spent her later teen years attending Key West High School, and made some life long friends there including Sheila Sands, with whom she would stay in touch for the rest of her life, visiting whenever possible. There she also met and fell in love with Alan del Valle, the father of her only child, George Christian "Chris" del Valle.

Mona and Alan were married young in 1968, and despite loving each other and doing their best to build a home together, were divorced in 1970. Even then at such a young age, Mona had a great intuitive sixth sense, and was prepared to take tough choices to ensure the best for herself and her son. Mona and Chris moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia to be near her parents who were now based there with the Navy.

When her stepfather retired from the Navy shortly thereafter, they relocated back to Houston. In these early years, Mona worked extraordinarily hard to build a good life for herself and her son in Houston. Times were tough in the early to mid-seventies, and they lived on their own when they could, and sometimes with Linn (and Bob, until his death in 1974). During this time Mona was building her experience in book keeping and payroll accounting, and as the decade passed she increasingly found herself working in jobs that were normally reserved for those with much greater professional qualifications. Mona's early success was driven in part by her love for her son, and also her own strong independent streak coupled with a refusal to never take 'no' for an answer when she knew she was right. Time and time again she overcame economic and social challenges faced by so many single moms, and selflessly put the needs of others before her own. Friends, both new and old, saw this in her even then.

This hard work led to a big 'break' of sorts for Mona in the late 70's when she went to work for Houston's Cullen family (Quintana Petroleum and Glennloch Farms) a job that brought with it not only a big increase in pay and responsibility, but also a network of dear friends such as Jean Chaney, Tricia Henry and Moira Parker that would remain important to her for the rest of her life. Around this time, they also met Mike 'Bear' Dawson, a boy Chris' age who would become a dear, important and lifelong friend to Chris and Mona

Mona grieved deeply for the loss of her mother to a heart condition in late 1981. Saddened though she was, Mona's unwavering determination to overcome challenges and heartbreak served her well, and she drew strength from solid friendships and the love of her son. She would miss her mother for the rest of her life

It can be said that Mona and Chris enjoyed some truly great times 'growing up' together in the late seventies and early eighties. Weekend trips with friends to stay at the company beach house in Matagorda, or trips camping in the Texas Hill Country and to Florida were highlights, but just as treasured were the lazy weekends by the pool, Friday night card games or seeing Star Wars for the 14th time to keep Chris and his friends contented! She was an enthusiastic cheerleader at Chris' football games and always ready to pitch in with cub scouts and PTA bake sales (with the best chocolate chip cookies known to mankind).

During all her life, Mona had a profound love of animals and the natural world, which she also cultivated in her son. Even when times were tight, she always found room to make sure their little family included a pet or two- normally a dog and a cat, but sometimes fish, newts and birds (and even a couple of snakes). Her sense of adventure and love of animals extended to voluntary work at the Houston Zoo, and she even convinced the Zoo officials to bend the age restrictions for volunteers so that her son could also become involved (even though Mona did all the work and he did all the watching).

During this time they moved north to Spring, Texas, and enjoyed some of their best times in a small house on Bubbling Spring Drive (that seemed like a mansion to them both). Here they were joined by a grey and white cat, Smokey and a Scottish terrier called Lady, regarded by Mona as her second and third children. In addition to her role as a great mom, Mona also learned to be a great 'dad' to her son, and they learned together the ins and outs of managing yard work and minor home repairs, and had a lot fun in the process. She also possessed a strong sense of justice and standing up for right versus wrong, and imparted this to her son, teaching him to stand up for himself, something that she had learned to do very well over the years.

Mona left her work with the Cullen's in the early 80s, but her professional life continued to develop from strength to strength, joining public accounting firm Alexander Grant. It was there that she met Kim Chandler who became a lifelong friend. At the same time her relative youth also meant she did a great job of guiding Chris through his teen years, even though he admits at times did his utmost to make her work there as challenging as possible. One of her greatest joys was seeing Chris get accepted to and graduate from Texas A&M University.

During this time she also dealt with the loss of her father Roy, as well as the loss of her beloved Granny, Hazel Ashby

In the early 90's Mona chose to go to work for Fisk Electric Company as their payroll manager which at that time also encompassed the personnel function. She thrived here because of the character she had developed over the years, a sense about people and dogged determination. She has friendships to this day that were developed here. Mona also secured the Certified Payroll Professional designation at the behest of the then CFO of Fisk, Rick. Although the romantic bond between Rick and Mona did not develop until the mid 90's, they became close friends during their time as fellow employees. Rick and Mona began dating in 1997 and launched themselves into being Rodeo/Cookoff mavens and of course Mona had all the clothes and boots to go with that. Mona and Rick were married on May 5, 2000, a holiday so Rick would not forget the date, in Wimberley, Texas. Mona loved to travel, which could mean a trip to Europe or maybe even Katy Mills Mall. During the middle 90's Chris relocated to the UK with Mona's blessing which gave Mona an opportunity to see Europe and the UK from a native's perspective with at least one trip a year across the pond. Rick and Mona were always on the go and had a wonderful life together developing a friendship full of love and respect. There were dance classes with Yancy Lamb, numerous spa/fitness club memberships and the purchase and redo of three houses that Mona made homes, with their two beloved cats Alex and Milo. Mona parlayed her certification and experience into several challenging yet rewarding positions ending her working career with Eagle Rock Energy Partners. Everyone who met Mona loved having her around and the friendships that developed during the last 20 years are still valid. Mona passed away in the company of, her son Chris, Becky her nurse, Mike (Bear) Dawson, family friends and her loving husband Rick at 11:03 am on May 6, 2015 six days after Rick's birthday and one day after their 15th wedding anniversary.

Mona, you are and will continue to be loved, cherished and deeply missed