Priscilla Ann Monahan, teacher, attorney and world traveler, passed away in Boston on February 27 after a lengthy illness.


She was born January 4, 1937 in Salem, Massachusetts to John "Jack" Monahan and Katherine (Jennings) Monahan. She was predeced by cousins John Jennings, Patricia Jennings-Welch and Lucille Tagney, and is survived by cousins Kathleen Coombe of Danvers, Robert Hayes of Danvers, and Ruth Tseki of Naples, Florida.


She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of New Hampshire. An avid reader and lover of the written word, she began her career in publishing at Little, Brown & Co. She then began an illustrious 35-year career teaching English at Arlington High School, retiring in 2001. Although her teaching career touched thousands of lives, she was still not done with being a student herself. In the latter part of her career she decided to attend law school. She received her Juris Doctor from Suffolk Law School in and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1990.


However, having achieved this major accomplishment, she soon returned to her first love. She continued to work throughout her retirement as a student teaching supervisor at Simmons College. She immensely enjoyed her time with the students as well as in the field, shaping young minds as well as guiding a new generation of teachers. In this vein, she also served for many years on the Board of Directors of The Greenhouse School, founded by her cousin Patsy, and delighted in attending all of the school's special events.


Another of her great passions was travel: over the years she took a great many trips throughout the world, visiting China, Vietnam, Cuba, Thailand, Morocco, Ireland, England, Poland and a great many others. A curious and inquisitive person by nature, she enjoyed meeting new people and exploring new cultures, and especially introducing her new friends to her old. Assiduously polite by temperament and choice, she was a lady whose dignity never allowed her to utter an unkind word about anyone, and she rarely tolerated any such words spoken in her presence without rebuttal.


While she never had children of her own, she took great pleasure in doting on the children of her closest friends and colleagues, taking them to their first musicals and symphonies and introducing them to culture—she was known to them as Auntie Priscilla. Fiercely proud of her Irish heritage and family history, she was also diligent in keeping up with the lives of her many young cousins, remembering details and important milestones with an acuity that astounded all to the very end. She leaves a legacy that spans continents as well as generations, and she will continue to hold sway over those whose lives she touched.



Her funeral will be held on Monday at 11:15 A.M. from the Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St., (cor of North St.) Salem to be followed by a funeral Mass at 12 Noon in St James Church 156 Federal St., Salem. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will be Sunday from 2 to 6 P.M. Interment will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, Salem In lieu of or in addition to flowers, people may donate to The Greenhouse School, 145 Loring Ave, Salem, MA where Priscilla was a trustee. School officials plan to establish a Priscilla Monahan Travel Scholarship in her memory. For online guest book or additional information please visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com or call 978 744 0497.