81, of Phoenix, Arizona, peacefully died at home, on August 29, 2013. A devoted wife and mother, she considered her family to be her greatest blessing, and is survived by her husband of 61 years Don, her 4 children Beth Regan (Jerry), Tim Moncher (Susie), Katie Baker (Mike), and Mary Hawes (Steve), 10 grandchildren, Amy, Bill, Andy, Ben, Matt, Adam, Carly, Chris, Samantha and Tim, 3 great-grandchildren, Kaiya, Tim and Braelynn. Bette was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on November 18, 1931, and met Don, the love of her life, in Waukesha, Wisconsin while attending Carroll College. They married December 29, 1951 and 10 years later moved their family to Phoenix. Bette completed her education at ASU and enjoyed 18 years of teaching at St. Theresa Catholic School. After retirement, Bette was a tireless volunteer who loved her numerous years serving as a member of the Christ Child Society and as a volunteer with The Phoenix Zoo. Bette’s positive spirit, and joy and happiness towards life shined bright to all who knew her. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 A.M., Thursday September 5, 2013 at St. Theresa Catholic Church, 5045 E. Thomas Rd., Phoenix. A Niche Side Service will follow at St. Francis Catholic Cemetery, 2033 N. 48th St., Phoenix. Donations to Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower St., Phoenix, AZ 85014 or your favorite charity in Bette’s honor will be greatly appreciated.
Becky Kanis Margiotta
Mrs. Moncher was my Kindergarten & 1st grade teacher at St. Theresa’s in the mid 70s. I’m in my mid-40s now and I just googled “Mrs. Moncher” to see if I could find her and appreciate her for what an amazing teacher she was – what a wonderful, kind, loving presence she was in my young life. Even after all these years, I remember going up to her after completing a little first grader task, and asking her, “what should I do next?” and she beamed down at me and said, “well, you could give me a hug.” Which, I of course, was delighted to do.
This is somewhat embarrassing, but I share because I hope those who loved Mrs. Moncher will appreciate knowing this. When I moved on to 2nd grade, I was somewhat lost without her. I remembered that she said her favorite song was “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music. I convinced my dad to teach me how to play this on the guitar, and I swear – I took my guitar to school and serenaded Mrs. Moncher after class. My friends recreated this moment during a skit at my wedding as a way of capturing how I was as a little kid.
Many years later, in my 30s, at a care for brunch in NYC’s west village, I met someone who had gone to the Air Force Academy (I went to West Point) and we found out we both lived in Phoenix as kids. Imagine our surprise when we found out we both went to St. Theresa’s. Then the tears that flowed instantly as we asked one another, “Did you have Mrs. Moncher?!?!” That was our first question, decades later.
Mrs. Moncher touched my life and I’m sure so many others. I feel so blessed for having been in her care during those sweet, tender years in my life. Thank you to everyone who loved her so much – I know she passed that along to me, and my life is a million times richer for it.