Last Updated on September 23, 2023 by Kroeger Funeral Home
Arrangements are currently pending for Patty L. D’Andrea Monson, who passed away Friday, September 22, 2023, in WoodBridge Health Campus. The schedule for Visitation and Mass of Christian Burial will be posted as available.
The following obituary was composed by Patty herself.
Born in Logansport on November 26, 1930, Thanksgiving Day, she was the fifth daughter of Frank and Susie Reavis Kivett, and she always laughed and said she was their family’s Thanksgiving turkey. Patty was born into a musical family who loved to sing.
She graduated in 1949 from Logansport High School. Her favorite subjects were typing, piano and choir, where she sang girls ensemble for four years.
Her first job was typist in the sales department at Logan Machine Company. She was the “fastest typist they ever hired.”
On November 10, 1951, she married Peter J. D’Andrea, who preceded her in death on February 18, 1982. They were married 31 years.
Patty wore many hats, so to speak. She stayed at home and raised her family. She then took a position as Deputy Clerk for Randolph Lanning in the Cass County Clerk’s Office.
Later, she was employed at Plotner’s Shoe Tree, The Golden Rule Department Store, and Sales & Promotions Manager at the Logansport Mall for seven years. Upon her husband’s death, she decided to run for the Democratic County Councilman-at-large to fill his space. She was also selected by the Mayor to serve on the City Board of Community Development.
She and her husband, Pete, were very active in Logansport Civic Players, directing and acting on stage for eight years. She played lead roles in “Hello, Dolly” and “Fiddler on the Roof”.
In 1984, she withdrew from politics and accepted a new position, relocating to McLean, Virginia, as counselor and secretary for her niece, Joann Pasquale DiGennaro, who was executive president of the Admiral H. Rickover Science Institute. It was an exciting life, working for the Admiral and Joann. Admiral Rickover, the father of the nuclear submarine, loved chocolate and often ate chocolate ice cream that was made especially for him.
Later on, she worked with sixty young, highly gifted students and teachers from all parts of the United States and abroad. It was a challenging job, teaching boys and girls from ages thirteen to seventeen. They studies science in the Xerox Training Center Institute, Leesburg, Virginia. It was there she met a Navy man with a strong Boston accent, who helped her with young male students, who would be her husband in years to follow.
Patty then decided to accept a position as executive secretary to the General Manager of the Tyson’s Corner Holiday Inn in McLean, Virginia. It was exciting and educational work in the hotel, meeting different people every day for three years.
On August 27, 1988, she married Capt. Arthur Monson, USN ret. Art always said, “he fell in love with her playing the piano in the dining hall, wondering where it was coming from and who was playing it.” They both had the same thing in common, as he played the accordion.
Patty enjoyed traveling with her husband, in the United States and Canada, taking cruises. She especially enjoyed being close to family and friends in Indiana, where he was “back home again”, as the song says.
Arthur Monson passed away June 22, 2013. They lacked two months of being married 25 years.
Surviving is son, Gary D’Andrea, Monticello.
Grandchildren, Serenity (Phil) Alter, Katie (John) Hendon, Brooks (Casey) Ingle, Cassidy D’Andrea, Danielle D’Andrea; five great grandchildren; one great-great granddaughter; a number of nieces and nephews in several generations.
In addition to her husbands, Peter J. D’Andrea and Art Monson, Patty was preceded in death by a daughter, Toni D’Andrea; four sisters, and numerous other relatives.
Memorial contributions may be made to Riley Children’s Foundation, Suite 200, 30 South Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Condolences may be submitted to the family at www.kroegerfuneralhome.com.