ABINGTON – Nancy Anne (Skinner) Monahan, 90, passed away peacefully at home in Abington, MA, surrounded by family after a long, courageous battle with cancer, on June 10, 2021.
Born in Boston in 1931, Nancy was the youngest of the four children of the late George and Dorothy (Durant) Skinner, and sister to the late Dorothy Hill, Patricia Desmond and Joseph Skinner.
She leaves behind her beloved husband of 65 years, Joseph Monahan (Abington, MA), and their children, Susan Mullin (Abington, MA), Donna Campbell and her husband Robert Campbell (Abington, MA), her beloved grandchildren and their spouses: Timothy and Elias (Gutierrez) Mullin, William and Sara (Rodenhiser) Mullin, Sherri and Sean Malley, Sarah Campbell and Andrew Campbell, and her brand new cherished great-grandsons, Brendan Paul Malley and Elliott Paul Mullin, as well loving nieces, nephews, and many great friends.
Nancy moved to Abington from Arlington at the age of 14, and met her future husband Joe when he delivered the family groceries from Gates’ Market in Abington Center. A 1948 graduate of Abington High School, Nancy was a “Miss Abington” during her high school years. After graduating from Bridgewater State College, she began a lifelong career as a teacher. Her wedding was a whirlwind elopement and she spent the first year of her married life in New Orleans, teaching and enjoying a Mardi Gras celebration. Upon her return to Abington, she settled back into the old colonial home her parents had bought and renovated, affectionately dubbed “Hot Air Manor.”
Her early career included teaching roles in New Orleans, Whitman, Brockton, and most memorably at an in-home private kindergarten (Jack and Jill Kindergarten) where her own children, relatives and many young Abingtonians learned their ABCs, performed in plays and snacked on graham crackers and Hi-C.
After her daughters entered elementary school, Nancy became a teacher in Abington in 1965, first as a permanent substitute and then settling into a first grade role for three decades at the Center School, right in her own neighborhood. It is conservatively estimated that during her teaching career, Mrs. Monahan successfully taught at least 700 first graders how to read, write and do arithmetic, and any time she was around town, chances are a former student would come up and tell her that she was their favorite teacher. Her own grandson Billy also was her student, and family legend has it she was tougher on him than all of her other students combined.
Nancy enjoyed traveling (once she reached her destination). She especially enjoyed yearly summer visits to Nantucket and braved airplane travel twice to visit England with family. After retiring from teaching at the age of 62, she happily helped raise her grandchildren and enjoyed travel with her sisters and husband.
Nancy was a woman of many other talents, including gardening, painting, and music. She was a self-taught piano player and harmonica player and liked nothing more than to regale her family with a rousing version of “When The Saints Go Marching In” on her harmonica. She also was an avid reader, enjoyed line dancing until COVID-19 restrictions hit, enjoyed playing Rummy 500, and loved crossword puzzles. She attended the former North Abington Congregational Church and later the United Church of Christ in Abington.
Visiting hours will be held 4:00-7:00 pm on Monday, June 14, 2021 at the Blanchard Funeral Chapel, Plymouth Street (Rte. 58 at the rotary circle) Whitman, MA. A funeral service will be held at the United Church of Christ in Abington on Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 10:00 am, followed by interment at the Mount Vernon Cemetery in Abington.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the United Church of Christ in Abington or to Old Colony Hospice.