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Anna Mondock was not only a devoted mother, but put that same effort into everything she accomplished -- and she was constantly involved.

"She always had to have her hands going and her mind going," said her youngest son, Ron Mondock. "Her mind was sharp until the day she died."

Her family and friends took a lesson from Mrs. Mondock's work: Every moment should be put to good use, her son said.

"God gave her a long life -- 97 years -- and she really made the most of it," Ron Mondock said.

Anna R. Mondock died Sunday, Aug. 21, 2005, in Westmoreland Manor, Hempfield Township.

When her mother died at a young age, leaving 12 children, Mrs. Mondock assumed many of the responsibilities, her son said.

She began working in the kitchen of Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh for several years in high school, the first of several forays into the health and services.

She met her husband, John E. Mondock, a coal miner, at a wedding reception, Ron Mondock said. The two were married in 1928 and had five children. John passed away in 1959.

When Ron Mondock was in high school, his mother began pursing a degree from the Franklin School of Nursing in Pittsburgh. She was 55 at the time and would ride a bus from the family's home in Mt. Pleasant into the city for classes.

"I used to help her study at night because she had all these questions ... about the body parts and the organs and stuff," Ron Mondock said.

Mrs. Mondock became a licensed nurse practitioner and worked at Westmoreland Manor for 14 years.

After retiring, she offered her services as a private caregiver.

At the same time, she volunteered as a receptionist at Frick Hospital, Mt. Pleasant.

She was a member of the Visitation Roman Catholic Church, Mt. Pleasant, and its Christian Mothers, of which she was past president.

She also was a former member and past president of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary No. 3368 and a member of the Mt. Pleasant Senior Citizens and the Westmoreland County Retirees.

In her later years, Mrs. Mondock made any free time she had more productive by cooking, gardening, crocheting, knitting, and doing crossword and jigsaw puzzles.

As Mrs. Mondock's child, "you could just tell that she just loved you and she just loved being a mother," her son said.

Mrs. Mondock is survived by her children, Bernard Mondock and his wife, Margaret, John E. Mondock Jr., Richard P. Mondock and his wife, Ruth, and Evelyn DePalma and her husband, John, all of Mt. Pleasant, and Ronald J. Mondock and his wife, Carol, of Greensburg; 17 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; three brothers, Andrew Mayernik and his wife, Gertrude, of Detroit, Thomas Mayernik and his wife, Myrna, and Albert Mayernik, all of Pittsburgh; and two sisters, Veronica Rabbitt, of Cleveland, and Catherine Kubina and her husband, John, of Bakersville.

A blessing service will be held today at 9:30 a.m. at the Brooks Funeral Home, 406 E. Washington St., Mt. Pleasant, followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. in Visitation Roman Catholic Church, Mt. Pleasant, with Monsignor Michael Matusak as celebrant. Internment will follow in Visitation Ceremony.

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