2023 -- S 0974

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LC002985

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF JOHN J. MONAGHAN, JR.

     Introduced By: Senators Pearson, Picard, F. Lombardi, Felag, Paolino, E Morgan,
Tikoian, Rogers, Quezada, and Lauria

     Date Introduced: May 09, 2023

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, It is with deep sadness that this Senate has learned of the passing of John J.

Monaghan, Jr., of Cumberland, the beloved husband of the late Joan Monaghan; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Monaghan was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, the son of the late

John and Helen Monaghan. A bright student, Mr. Monaghan graduated from Brown University in

1955 with a degree in the classics, and maintained a close lifelong relationship with his alma

mater. He served nearly 25 years as a member of the Brown Alumni Monthly Board, earning the

Alumni Service Award; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Monaghan was a distinguished journalist for 47 years. He began his

chosen profession in 1951, working as a vacation relief reporter at the Pawtucket Times. He

would spend most of his journalist career at the Providence Journal and the Evening Bulletin. As

a reporter, he covered local, state and national politics, and his coverage of the anti-poverty

program earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1968; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Monaghan steadily rose through the ranks at the Providence Journal,

earning promotions to the position of Assistant City Editor of the Evening Bulletin, and later City

Editor, before his elevation to Managing Editor in the early 1980s. Under his guidance, leadership

and direction, the Providence Journal won the New England Newspaper Association Newspaper

of the Year Award. He remained at the Providence Journal until his retirement in 1998; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Monaghan has been a civic leader his entire adult life. He served on the

Cumberland Conservation Commission for ten years, the Cumberland Boys Club Board for four

years, and was the founding member and First Chairperson of the Cumberland High School

Parents’ Advisory Group; and

     WHEREAS, In his free time, Mr. Monaghan was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed

spending time at his second home in West Ossipee, New Hampshire, canoeing, skiing,

snowshoeing, and hiking in the White Mountains. In retirement, he enjoyed travelling with his

wife, Joan, across the United States and Europe. His travel exploits became the subject of his

written pieces for the Providence Sunday Journal; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Monaghan leaves behind his children, John Monaghan and his wife,

Judy, James Monaghan, and Ellen Monaghan. He also leaves behind his grandchildren, Lindsay,

Darcy, Tyler, Fiona, Ailis, and Sinead Monaghan, and his sisters, Sheila Harvey and Mary

Laporte; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby expresses its deepest

condolences on the passing of John J. Monaghan, Sr., and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to John Monaghan and Family, James Monaghan

and Ellen Monaghan.

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