Ramona Arehart

Ramona J. “Mona” Arehart of Eldorado Springs died, Thursday, July 14, 2016, at her residence. She was 86. Mona Arehart was born on December 2, 1929, on the family farm near Parkers Prairie, Minnesota (population 1000), to Oscar and Dagny Lindall. She was baptized Inez Ramona Junietta and later confirmed at the Swedish Lutheran Church in Parkers Prairie. Mona grew up on the family farm with an older brother and a younger sister. After graduating from Parkers Prairie High School in 1947, she attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, followed by three years at Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis, graduating in 1952 as a registered nurse. In 1953 Mona moved to Colorado to complete her nursing degree, graduating in 1955 with a BSN majoring in Psychiatric Nursing and a certificate in teaching and supervision. After meeting her husband Gene, a Korean War Vet at CU, they were married October 26, 1955, and had two children, Karen and Kent. After marriage, Mona worked as a private duty nurse and an evening supervisor at the Wheatridge State mental health facility for the develop mentally disabled. After Gene finished graduate school they moved to San Francisco where he worked for The Wall Street Journal. In 1964 Gene was transferred to Chicago with the WSJ. Mona worked as Home Care Coordinator for the Visiting Nurse Association in Chicago. In 1972 Gene took a position at The Detroit News and the Arehart family moved to Michigan. Mona worked as an Oakland University Nursing Research Project at the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center and at a 26-bed inpatient Hospice unit in South East Michigan. She volunteered at the Crittenden Hospital Auxiliary and as a grief counselor. After removal of a lung tumor Mona retired from nursing. Gene retired from The Detroit News in 1988 and they moved to Boulder County and built a house near Eldorado Springs on land that was purchased in 1956. In 1990 a head hunter friend talked Gene into running The Anchorage Times newspaper. They moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Mona became a docent at the History and Art museum and worked in the Anchorage Women's and Pioneer school house project. Gene retired, and he and Mona returned to Boulder in the fall of 1992. She joined P.E.O. Chapter E in 1991 and transferred to Chapter EY in 1993. Their daughter Karen McHugh lives in Los Alamos, NM, and their son Kent lives in Boulder. Granddaughter Sarah lives in Los Alamos with Great Granddaughter Natalie Vincent (7). Grandson Mike and family live in Pittsburgh with great-grandsons Connor (9) and Sean (5) and new born Jack.