Mary Kathleen Monihan

Mary Kathleen Monihan, 83, passed away peacefully at home on Friday April 18, 2025. She was born in San Francisco, grew up in Redwood City, eventually settling in San Carlos. To know Mary was to love her. Her passion for life, family, and social justice was contagious and shined through every aspect of her life. Her generosity knew no bounds. Mary showed up in places others ran from, she gave from her heart, believing and striving to live every stanza of the Prayer of St. Francis. She was a loving wife of 41 years, stepmother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. To many of us, she was a role model, mentor and friend. Her passion for social justice helped us all look at our communities with an eye for service. When in the presence of those less fortunate, Mary taught us to always ask, "How can I help?".
Mary enjoyed showing off her amazing City of San Francisco to anyone up for a tour. She loved spending time with family and friends around a large table filled with delicious food, so much so that she turned her living room into an extra-large dining room. We were fortunate to receive the gift of sitting at that table; laughing, telling stories, learning more about each other and ourselves. One of Mary's most cherished gifts was her passion for creating peace and beauty in her garden; offering us a space filled with love. Growing up, she was a girl who loved riding her bike, was a Girl Scout, and was on the Catholic Daughters Drill Team. She would share that her life was very blessed.
Mary attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Elementary School (Redwood City); Notre Dame High School (Belmont), and College of Notre Dame (Belmont). She graduated from Mary's Help Nurses School (San Francisco) in 1962 and embarked on her 37-year career as a nurse, which included over 20 years at Sequoia Hospital, first as a floor nurse and then as Charge Nurse of the ICU and eventually as Nurse Manager of the ICU, CCU and ER. She combined her passion for social justice with her passion for nursing. Working closely with Dr. Barry Zevin at the Tom Waddell Urban Health Clinic, she served the most marginalized of our communities as she treated HIV/AIDS patients and she became one of the pioneers in Transgender Medicine. She adored her transgender patients who came to rely on her care and compassion. Mary took her passion for social justice and began volunteering as a board member at Care Through Touch. She also worked at Temenous Catholic Worker with Father River Sims doing outreach and care to homeless youth. Mary spent hours wrapping hundreds of pairs of socks and loved going out on Christmas Eve to deliver gifts and food to homeless youth. She continued these volunteer efforts into retirement.
Mary is predeceased by her parents, Kathleen Virginia Monihan and John Francis Monihan, and her uncle Father William Monihan.
She is survived by her loving husband, Mariano Dagang; stepchildren Deborah Dagang (Terry Klim), Sheryl Gangano (Stefanie) and Thomas Dagang (Debra); grandsons Brendan Klim and Corbin Dagang; siblings Christine Monihan, William Monihan, and Judi Lynch; niece and nephews Patrick Fitzgerald, Carreen DeBella, Rick Lynch, Michael Lynch, Dominic Lynch, and Brennan Lynch; grandnieces and grandnephews Maxwell DeBella, Piper DeBella, Lillian Lynch, Nina Lynch, Giancarlo Diluce, Megan Lynch, Ciara Lynch, Tiana Lynch, Bob Lynch, and Thomas Lynch; and great-grandnephew Logan Lynch.
Funeral Mass will be held 10:00am, Saturday, May 24:
St. Matthias Catholic Church
1685 Cordilleras Road
Redwood City, CA 94062
(reception to follow)
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Care Through Touch Institute (carethroughtouch.org ) or Temenos Catholic Worker (temenos.org ).