Monika Irma Malone, age 85, died at Theda Clark Hospital in Neenah on February 19, 2016. Monika was born on May 4, 1930, in Munich, Germany, to Karl and Gertrude Frisch (Hauschild). Because her school was bombed in 1944, Monika never graduated from high school, but after the war, she trained as a kindergarten teacher which resulted in her first post with an American diplomat's family in Switzerland. Fluent in English and French, she returned to Wiesbaden to work as an international telephone operator for the German postal service. She met USAF fighter pilot Lt. H.O. Malone, Jr., on Christmas Eve, 1956, when he tried to book a call home to his parents who lived in Fort Worth, Texas. He spent all night talking to her as they waited for a telephone line to open up and within a year had convinced her to marry him. They married while he was posted in Toulouse, France, in 1957 and then moved to the United States. While raising four children with H.O., Monika earned her B.A. in German from Baylor University and an M.A. in German from the University of Texas. Throughout this time, she also worked full-time, sometimes as a free-lance translator, but often teaching German, French, and Latin at high schools and colleges. After many moves, she and H.O. settled in Hampton, Virginia, where she taught German for Hampton Public schools for close to 25 years. As an active member of Hampton Baptist Church, she founded and ran a soup kitchen. She never lost her first love of working with children and despite a busy work schedule, she volunteered in many capacities, including tutoring ESL to immigrants and refugees. After she 'retired' she continued to teach German at Thomas Nelson Community College until the age of 82. She moved to Oshkosh in 2012 and lived at Evergreen Retirement Community where she made many new friends. She spent her brief moments of free time reading, watching old movies, listening to music, especially opera, and was an avid supporter of bird, bunny and squirrel populations outside her back door. She loved to knit, crochet, sew, quilt, and dance. Preceded in death by her husband in 2008, she is survived by her dear sister-in-law Marilyn Sanders, four loving and bereft children, Ingrid Cleaver, Susan Maxwell, Victor Malone, and Michael Malone. Her 10 grandchildren meant the world to her and she to them: Robert and Isobel Cleaver; Malachi and Georgia Maxwell; Max, Mandy and Eleanor Malone; Quinn, Ian and Kaya Legallo-Malone.
A memorial service for Monika will be held at a later date. The family would like to thank the nurses, doctors, and staff at Theda Care Hospital in Neenah for their kindness and excellent care of Monika and her family during her last days.