Antoinette E. "Toni" Mongno

Mongno, Antoinette Toni E. On March 19, 2012 Antoinette (Toni) E. Mongno died peacefully in her sleep at her daughter's home on Cape Cod after spending the day joyfully celebrating her 85th birthday. She was born on March 18, 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was preceded in death by her mother and father Frank and Mary Louise Klipsch, two sisters JoAnn Inman and Rosemary Haller, and two brothers Frank and Joey Klipsch. She is survived by her beloved son Michael, three daughters Diane (and Jack) Garstka, Linda (and Alan) Beimfohr and Leslie (and Bruce) MacKerron, one granddaughter Kelley (and Mike) Turner and five step grandchildren Alison Stanley, Nick and Kurt Beimfohr and Zachary and Alex Garstka. Toni has many loving nieces and nephews in St. Louis, Missouri. She also has an abundance of caring, devoted friends in St. Louis, Missouri, Dayton, Ohio and throughout the world. Toni had an irresistible zest for life. She was kind and loving and generous. Although she was extremely hard of hearing (due to diphtheria at a very young age), she didn't let that stop her from enjoying life. Toni worked at Wright Patterson Air Force Base for 22 years in the Civil Engineering Department. She served as Vice President and Board member for the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME). Toni served as a part time Equal Employment Opportunity counselor and learned sign language in order to assist deaf workers on the Base. She started a WPAFB Deaf Club to give hearing impaired individuals an opportunity to join together for lunch and communicate in their common language. She also started the first chapter of a Deaf Toastmistress Club, called The Joy of Signing. Meetings were conducted in sign language. Toni loved to travel and served as President, Vice President and Board member for the Friendship Force in Dayton, Ohio. Their goal is to spread friendship around the world thereby creating a world of peace. She was hosted by families in New Zealand, South Korea, Nairobi, Kenya, Siberia and Germany. She in turn, hosted in her home, friends from China, Siberia, Japan, Turkmenistan and New Zealand. Toni loved life and lived it to the fullest. She attended several Sinclair Community College Creative Writing classes late in life and wrote beautiful essays about her life including many special travel experiences. She was a member of the Beavercreek Senior Center and loved playing ping pong. She also loved dancing. Most of all, Toni loved her family and friends. Her four children meant the world to her, as she did to them. Few mothers could be loved as much as her four children loved her. In lieu of flowers, Toni asks that you put a smile on someone's face, or call a friend and take them to lunch, or visit someone in a nursing home. Find ways to spread joy to others. In keeping with her generosity, Toni has donated her body to Wright State University School of Medicine. A celebration of Toni's life will be planned at a later date.