Pamela C. Monaghan (Cotton) age 65 of North Conway, NH formerly of Canton, MA, passed away February 23rd at the Hellenic Nursing Home in Canton. Born in Dayton, Ohio, she was raised in Falmouth, MA and Branford, CT. As a child, she became an skilled horseback rider.
Pamela graduated from Branford High School and UMass Amherst with a BS in Industrial Engineering. She was nearly fluent in four languages and at the age of 19 she went on a solo, month long exploration of Europe. She had an uphill battle as one of the first female engineering students at UMass Amherst. After graduating, she worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Cullinet in Westwood, Computer Associates in Framingham, and finished her career with Ab Initio in Lexington before retiring in 2011. When working for Computer Associates in 1999, she served as their director for the Y2K conversion and had over 30 people reporting to her.
She was also an accomplished sailor. Pamela often went out on a 21-foot Soling daysailer serving as Captain and trained many people in the art of sailing. In 1997, Pamela, an avid hiker, completed a 14 day hike across the entire presidential mountain range and she was a PADI Certified Diver.
She also enjoyed cooking and baking and became a semi-professional cake decorator for weddings and events. Pamela was an explorer, a genius, a rebel, and a true inspiration to everyone around her.
Pamela lived in Canton for 27 years before moving to North Conway, NH 3 years ago. She was an accomplished artist and in the last 6 years of her life painted nearly 50 separate oil paintings of New Hampshire landscapes, mountain views, and rural scenes.
Beloved wife of Charles. Mother of Andrew Moore of Walpole, Sarah Deveau of Taunton, Amanda Finnell of Attleboro, and Arielle Staal of Stoughton. Grandmother of Kaleigh, William, Azilyne, Madison, Benson, Collin, and Gabriel. Sister of Paul Cotton of Martha’s Vineyard. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service at the Congregational Church of Canton (1541 Washington St., Canton, MA). The service will take place Saturday morning at 11:30. The burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Alzheimer’s Association. www.alz.org