Monica Mari Boen, 70

Monica Mari Boen (70) was born August 10,1954 to Kenneth and Arlis (Swenson) Boen.

She attended Strandquist elementary for 2 years before they moved to Longview, WA. They lived there only 2 years before they moved to Karlstad and bought a hobby farm north of the golf course. Monica graduated from Karlstad High School in 1972.

She was involved in many activities: GAA, Speech  (won first place in the State conservation speech contest), A team cheerleader, played flute in the senior band and flute trio, sang in the mixed and girls’ choirs. Monica was “Queen” 3 times: Valentine Party queen in 6th grade, Snoball Queen her senior year and Valentine queen at the Karlstad Healthcare Center. She was a member of First Lutheran Church and sang with the youth group, The Christ Corps.

Monica graduated from Moorhead State in 1976 with a BA in Sociology.

She moved to Detroit. MI for 2 years and worked as an assistant manager of a clothing store. She then moved to Manhattan Beach, CA in 1978 and worked as a social worker.  She went onto graduate school where she received her Masters in Gerontology. Monica had planned to work with the elderly.  However, she loved kids! She taught in a few different schools before her final job at Hickory Tree in Torrence, CA. This was primarily an Asian private school with Korean, Japanese and Chinese students. She loved her job and the teachers she worked with. This was a year-round job. In the summer, Monica would teach school in the morning and would go on field trips in the afternoon. Some weekends, she enjoyed working as a waitress in a prestigious restaurant in Los Angeles. (she especially liked the tips!) Monica loved to travel the world with friends. She also enjoyed a Caribbean cruise with her mother in 2002.

Her favorite foods were pizza, klub, ice cream, chocolate and licorice.

Monica lived alone and never married. She enjoyed her cats as companions. Monica would often be the first teacher at school in the mornings. But in June 2017, Monica wasn’t at school when the day began.

The school administrator found her sitting outside her apartment in Hermosa Beach, CA, repeating her dad’s name, “Kenneth, Kenneth”. She had suffered a debilitating stroke.

Following three months’ care in California, she was transferred to the Karlstad Healthcare Center in September 2017 where she has since resided. Monica enjoyed three years with her mother there, since Arlis also resided at the KHC until her death in 2020.

Monica passed away at the KHC, on March 6th from pneumonia.

Monica expressed her appreciation for the fun and loving assistance she received from the activity director, Jan, and Brenda and ALL the other wonderful caregivers at KHC. You all became her precious family. It was also a privilege for Terry and Margo Soltvedt to assist Monica with her care.

Monica is survived by Aunt and Godmother, Vernice Dagen Sandgren, Bemidji, MN and Aunt Ella Mae Bjorkman and her husband “BJ”, Medina, MN., besides many cousins and other relatives.

She is preceded in death by her father, Kenneth (2001) and mother, Arlis (2020) Grandparents: Andrew and Hilda Boen and Andrew and Mabel Swenson

Memorial services for Monica will be held at 2:00 pm, Saturday, March 22, 2025, at First Lutheran Church, Karlstad, MN.  Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the church.

Services will be live streamed on First Lutheran Church’s Face Book page..

Interment will be held at a later date in Karlstad Cemetery, Karlstad, MN

In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer donations to Heritage Christian School or First Lutheran Church both in Karlstad.

Arrangements are with Collins Funeral Home of Karlstad.

An online guestbook is available at www.collinsfunerals.com