Nathalie 'Nat' Monk
Mrs. Nathalie “Nat” Monk of Prospect passed away peacefully at home Sunday.
She was born in Punxsutawney, Pa., the daughter of the late Joseph Neverla and Julia Buisset Neverla.
Nat touched countless lives as a teacher for 40 years, 21 of those spent at the Slippery Rock School District.
She graduated from Punxsutawney High School at 16, and received a degree from Clarion Teachers College. She served in the Coast Guard as a SPAR during World War II.
After moving to St. Petersburg, Fla., with her mother, she met and married Edwin R. Monk, of Munhall, Pa., in 1951.
Her first classroom was in the Catskills, but she lived and taught across the United States, from New York to California and Washington to Puerto Rico, wherever Edwin’s work took them.
She had five boys who were born along the way during their travels, each in a different state.
No stone was unturned. No matter where they went, adventures abounded.
Nat kept in touch with her brother and his family through letters and postcards from her travels, as did many of her generation, enticing her nieces and nephews into travels of their own.
As an avid gardener, she could plant a Popsicle stick and make it grow. She enjoyed reading and listening to books. She loved her animals and bird watching. Her Opel GT was her pride and joy. She even tried her hand at our motorcycle and quickly decided being a passenger was more her style.
Nat loved her boys and the families that grew from them. “Ma,” as she was called by her boys, will be missed by all who had the opportunity to know her. She was truly part of “The Greatest Generation.”
Nat is survived by her five sons, Mark E. Monk and his wife, Connie Simon Monk, Carl R. Monk and his wife, Patricia Dominguez Monk, Gary R. Monk and his wife, Cindy McIntyre Monk, Kirk A. Monk and his wife, Marilyn Rocco Monk, and Rory D. Monk and his wife, Ginny Grubbs Monk. Also surviving are her 17 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 1976, and her brother, Joseph Neverla, of Belvedere, S.C.
Monk — Nathalie Monk, who passed away Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, requested no funeral, only a small family memorial.Arrangements are entrusted to Jay Bryan Funeral Home, Prospect.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Butler County Humane Society.
