Monica Ribar Cornell died peacefully at home at the Peter Maurin Catholic Worker Farm in Marlboro, New York, on August 8. She was 83 years old.
Monica was born on January 16, 1942, in Oberlin, Ohio. Seeking a life of meaning, at 21 she joined the Catholic Worker in New York City, where she worked with the movement’s cofounder Dorothy Day. She married Thomas Charles Cornell, a peace activist, on July 16, 1964.
Monica and Tom moved to Newburgh to raise their two children in a house on the Bluff overlooking the beautiful Hudson River. Monica – who proudly described herself as a “homemaker” – cared lovingly for the family’s home. In Waterbury, Connecticut, where in 1982 Monica and Tom opened a Catholic Worker house of hospitality, she created an oasis for her family and the volunteers who helped run two soup kitchens.
Monica was happy to return to the Hudson Valley in 1993. She and Tom lived a simple lifestyle at Peter Maurin Farm, always leading by example and urging ecological sustainability. A masterful cook and gardener, over the course of her lifetime she was a gracious host to thousands of guests in the Catholic Worker tradition of hospitality.
Monica enjoyed being part of the local community. Learning to drive in her late fifties, she was a faithful patron of farmers markets and local merchants. She was never late in returning a book to the Marlboro Free Library.
Monica delighted in her five grandchildren: Rachel, Thomas, Seamus, Rebecca and Rosa Gould. She cherished her daughter Deirdre Cornell and son-in-law Kenney Gould, of Highland, and son Thomas Christopher Cornell, of Peter Maurin Farm, who accompanied her to the end of her life.
She is predeceased by her sister Carlotta and husband Tom.
A parishioner of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marlboro, Monica attended Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Chapel in Roseton. She treasured friendships with the Bruderhof community and Ascension Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in West Park. She was a founding member of the Dorothy Day Guild promoting Dorothy’s canonization.
Donations can be sent in Monica’s memory to the Catholic Worker at Maryhouse, 55 East 3 rd Street, New York, NY 10003.
Visitation will take place on Friday, August 15 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at DiDonato Funeral Home, 1290 Route 9W in Marlboro. A funeral Mass will be offered on Saturday, August 16 at 11:00 am at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1209 Route 9W, also in
Marlboro, followed by interment at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to the DiDonato Funeral Service, Inc. (845) 236-4300, The DiDonato Funeral Service, Inc. | Marlboro, NY.