Monica L Scarborough

Monica Scarborough, born in 1963, lived to November 10, 2022. Following a strong fight against cancer, she has left Claude, her husband of thirty-two years, and her daughter Katie, a senior at USC. She is also survived by her mother, Nancy Whelan, and her four siblings. Monica was loved by many for her wonderful personality, devotion, intelligence, determination and "Fight On" spirit.

Monica, the youngest of five children, was born and raised in Whittier, California. She was fun-loving and a great student. She attended Cornelia Connelly High School in Anaheim, California, and spent her freshman year of college at Notre Dame. After realizing that the weather is much better in California, she transferred to USC, her Alma Mater. Monica was a Theta at USC, and had many wonderful life-long friends from her sorority. The Thetas and other great friends rallied around Monica during her seven plus year fight with cancer, and provided an unbelievable level of friendship and support.

She was both intelligent and personable, and worked for a number of leading companies, including Deloitte, Western Digital, Disney and Coca Cola. Monica travelled internationally with Western Digital, and, in her early twenties, thought nothing of calling the CFO to ensure that a Hong Kong shopping stop or another excursion was built into her itinerary. She had moxie!

Monica and Claude moved to Atlanta in 1992, and Katie was born in 2000. To say that Monica was a devoted and loving mother would be a dramatic understatement; there were not limits to what she would do to support Katie. Those who knew Monica will appreciate this. They had an incredibly close and special relationship, and Katie has many wonderful memories and life lessons from Monica.

In 2015, Monica was diagnosed with breast cancer. She approached cancer like she faced other challenges - she fought. This was not a little fight. Monica outlived her doctor's prediction by years. She underwent 17 lines of treatment; meaning that she started one line after learning that the prior line, with its often devastating consequences, did not work, and on and on, over many years. This doesn't include other treatments such as radiation and liver oblations; she just kept fighting on. She never complained and never spoke of the pain. She would stay up until the early morning, helping Katie with her homework, and would make long drives to soccer tournaments while going through this. She had three rounds of doctors who wouldn't continue the fight, but Monica kept going. She showed us what it means to have a will to live and a devotion to family. It was truly unbelievable.

Monica's family would like to thank her many wonderful friends who shared this journey with her and did so much for her, consistently throughout the battle. Also, we would like to thank all of the wonderful healthcare professionals who provided such great care to Monica; even those who thought that she should give up. They simply did not understand the fight within her.

In lieu of flowers, please give to an organization dear to Monica:

Give to the Marist School, Atlanta, GA - https://www.marist.com/giving/ways-to-give

Give to USC Medicine, Los Angeles, CA - https://giveto.usc.edu/donation/0