SOUTH PORTLAND — Janet Emily McMonagle, 96, died Oct. 25 at Maine Medical Center.

She was born Oct. 10, 1918, in Bangor, the daughter of Lewis M. and Ethel (Rand) Blake. Following a childhood in Lagrange, she graduated from the University of Maine in 1940.

She began her teaching career in Madawaska, and subsequently lived for extended periods in Augusta, Rumford, and South Portland as she raised her family. She later returned to teaching as an elementary school teacher in the Rumford and South Portland school systems, and remained a South Portland resident until her death.

Throughout her life she was active in many organizations, including the Rumford Study Club, Rumford Teachers’ Wives Club, the Women’s Literary Union, the American Association of University Women, and the Cumberland County and Maine Retired Teachers associations.

McMonagle was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Edward Leo McMonagle, in 1999. She was also predeceased by a sister, Helen Simpson.

McMonagle is survived by a son, Charles E. McMonagle, and wife, Patricia, of New London, New Hampshire; daughters, Jane Thrift and husband, Joseph, of Scarborough, Ellen McMonagle, of South Portland, and Anne Ingalls and husband,  Andrew, of Cape Elizabeth; grandchildren, Katherine Cardinal and husband, Kevin, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts, Patrick McMonagle, of Washington, D.C., and Nate, Lydia and Alison Ingalls, all of Cape Elizabeth; great-grandchildren, Rogan and Kelan Cardinal, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts; and a sister, Josephine Bail and husband, Donald, of South Freeport.

Visiting hours were held Oct. 28 at Conroy-Tully Crawford South Portland Chapel, with an Oct. 29 Mass of Christian burial at Holy Cross Church, South Portland. Burial was private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to The Blake Scholarship, University of Maine Foundation, 2 Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469-5792.

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