Mona Ann Pilgrim

Mona Ann Pilgrim was an unassuming, yet powerful woman who saw the good in the world and did everything she could to manifest good where it was absent. Her priorities were family, her work, and her community.

She was born on 13 September 1950, the second child of Bob and Jean Kyrlach, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her formative years were spent here in New Mexico with her parents, her older brother Richard, and her sisters Margot and Millie, culminating with graduation from Del Norte High School in 1968.

In 1969, Mona and Joseph R Hobart were wed in Albuquerque. They had two children together: Eric, who lives in Rio Rancho, and Kira, who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her parenting style was based on fairness while taking advantage of learning opportunities to compassionately correct improper behaviors rather than simply punishing the transgression. She worked especially hard to ensure that her kids had everything they needed – even if she had to go without; as children, neither of us ever went to bed hungry, though she certainly had either simple toast or nothing to eat for dinner more than once so we could eat our fill.

Even with two young children and a husband on active duty in the United States Navy, she made the time to attend San Diego State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts in 1976. 

After her biological children were grown, she married the love of her life, Dennis Lynn Pilgrim, on September 16, 1995. They were together virtually every day for the rest of her life, and she always made sure he knew she loved him dearly. They adopted Salvador, who they parented with the same love and devotion she had shown her own biological kids. When she married Dennis, she also “adopted” his grown children – Steve, Brian, and Jeff. Although she didn’t know them until they were adults, she loved them every bit as much as any other member of her family.

In 1999, she earned her Masters’ Degree in Special Education with distinction at the University of New Mexico. Although she probably had the knowledge and experience to teach many of the courses she took, she always took the instructors lessons and viewpoints and worked to incorporate those into her own classroom.

For over forty years, ending with her retirement from the Clackamas School District in Oregon in 2018, she was devoted to the children and young adults of her community as an educator. She taught everything from early childhood education up through and including post-high Special education classrooms. The children in her classroom meant the world to her, and she was loved and respected by the students. Some of her more rewarding work came later in her career when she was working with Special Education programs in Alaska and Oregon. In Alaska, she taught at several districts, including one on Prince of Wales Island, where she witnessed the devastation of substance abuse and its impact on children. In Oregon, she worked with post-high young adults who often were on a feeding protocol or who needed physical help because they had developmental or physical disabilities. After her retirement, she returned to New Mexico.

She never sought out the accolades she so richly deserved, yet they were generously offered. Parents would tell her how impactful she was, and that their children had never wanted to attend school until they were in her classroom. After starting in her classroom, those kids wanted to go to school every single day!

Mona was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in late 2023, and she fought it as hard as she possibly could. Her mother had lost her battle with Alzheimer’s only 11 years before, and Mona wanted to beat it. Alzheimer’s disease is cruel and indiscriminate – it stole her life on 7 November 2024 at the relatively young age of 74.

The heavens have welcomed a new Angel to their midst, but there are people left behind that loved her more than words can say and miss her terribly. Her husband, Dennis; her children and their spouses – Eric (Jennifer), Kira, Salvador, Steve (Siobhan), Brian (Misty), and Jeff (Sybille); the grandchildren she loves so very much – Krysta, Rebecca, Alexis, Christopher, Alyssa, Andrew, Elise, and Micah; and her siblings Richard, Margot, and Millie. She is smiling down on the world now and, once again, has the full complement of memories that she created during her short stay here on Earth.