Mary Monica Cassidy (nee Lalor)

Mary Monica Lalor (she was registered by other dad as this!) was always known as Mon, Monica but her family nickname was Mary. She was born 14th of October 1930 at Nurse Tonge's Hospital in Harker Street, Healesville.

At Mon's 60th birthday party (see photo of Mon & Jim at left) the family gathered the following information...

As a child Mon liked to sing. She performed at her nana's home and her uncles would always request Home on the Range. She learned to play the piano from the nuns and in twelve months could play by ear. She attended St Brigid's school until she gained her merit certificate and her voice could be heard in the choir.

Mon left school at age 14 to work at McLaren's Grocery. She then had a job at Dowd's making bras and one day helped put out a fire with a big teapot! After that she worked at Emmet's Deli.

Football was an early and abiding interest - before Mon was married she was a fanatical supporter of Healesville.

Dances in the Yarra Valley at local halls such as Yarra Glen, Wandin and Seville were part of her social life.

After meeting William James (Jim) Cassidy in the streets of Healesville, they started going out - often having to share a car with Jim's brother, Eddie.

In 1951 Mon & Jim were engaged and began saving to build a house in Seville. Jim worked for his father but there was no power or mains water on the family's orchard which initially determined where they had to live.

They married at St Brigid's in Healesville on 5 May 1956 .

Mon & Jim went on to have the following children—Jennifer Mary Cassidy born on 9 March 1957, Susan Elizabeth Cassidy born on 20 December 1958, Judith Anne Cassidy born on 25 December 1961, and Peter James Cassidy born 28 November 1963.

This picture shows Mon and her children in the snow at Mt Donna Buang.

Mon and Jim built a new house on the orchard in 1972. Mon was "the best picker" they had but her main role was in banking and preparing the wages each Friday. For many years after the death of Jim's father she supported her mother in law and brother in law.

Both Mon and Jim were very involved in community work  - Mon was part of the Seville Social Set - which was "social " but catered for many functions in order to raise money for such causes as the local fire brigade and hospital. In later years she was on the Seville Hall Committee and in charge of bookings. She was also involved with the Seville Guides and cleaned the guide hall weekly. This community work and catering was in many respects probably influenced by the example of her own mother, Mary.

Football in the Yarra Valley was still a big interest but now Mon's allegiances had changed to Woori Yallock. She enjoyed the times when Healesville played Woori and she could talk to both sets of supporters and she was just as fanatical in her support of Woori Yallock as she had been of Healesville. Richmond was the constant love of her life and she liked to joke with her brothers about their support of Collingwood.

She liked a joke generally!

In the 1980s Mon and Jim made many trips overseas to New Zealand, America several times, Japan and, after heart by-pass surgery in 1987, England and Europe.

In 1988 the orchard was sold and Mon and Jim moved to Silvan. Mon loved the visits of her six grandchildren and encouraged them to write and draw. She kept and dated all of these early efforts.

Around 1996, Mon had a very debilitating stroke and spent weeks in rehabilitation at Donvale. Shortly after coming out of Donvale, Jim and Mon celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

In the next two  years she recovered to a point but then started to grow weaker. She was determined however that she would not go back to using a walking stick.

Four weeks after the birth of her sixth grandchild, Mon very suddenly collapsed and died at home on 30 January 1998.

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