Celebrating the Life, Love and Legacy of The Late Deacon Veronica Monro

 

Celebrating the Life, Love and Legacy of

The Late Deacon Veronica Monro

Most Faithful Servant of God and Deacon Exemplar

With Praise and Thanksgiving to Almighty God

for Her Enduring Contribution

in Enriching the Lives of Countless Persons

 

Along with her beloved family who remain to cherish her inimitable example of love, the congregation of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn, extended relatives and friends, I celebrate the life, love and legacy of the late Deacon Veronica Monro. She painted both broad and meticulous brushstrokes of faithful service to God through provision of direct assistance to her students, colleagues, church and community onto the canvass of her life. A career teacher and educator, she started in the classrooms of the New York City school system. Addressing the learning challenges and incapacities of students with special needs, she progressed to Special Education. She finished her time in schooling and education by training her teaching colleagues to incorporate supplementary teaching methods to educate and empower students who require special consideration. Her enduring service which naturally emerges from her Christian character and discipleship extended to her church and larger community. She was ordained to the Diaconate in the first class of women at to be elevated to this honored ecclesiastical office of servant leadership. For nearly three decades inclusive of serving as the Chairperson of the Board of Deacons at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn, Deacon Veronica Monro exemplified the qualities of a most faithful servant of God. Her genuinely humble service, borne of her willingness to redress anonymously the needs of the ministry and congregants, distinguished her. We will not know the countless times and myriad ways in which she shared and personified God’s grace with persons in need. Her dependable and superlative service yields the appropriate characterization of “Deacon Exemplar.”

 

As a soror within Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Deacon Monro’s servant leadership extended to the larger community. True to the founding principles of public service, scholarship and sisterhood, as a Delta soror, she shared these values through numerous community service projects. This historic African American sorority, through its dedication to improving local communities one person and one family at a time, secures the well-being and quality of life of hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority accomplishes this main and formidable feat through the personal devotion of sorors like Deacon Monro who concretized her lifelong commitment in fulfilling its founding principles. Summarily, in her multiple roles as wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, trainer, church servant leader, community activist and public leader, Veronica Monro leaves an imperishable legacy of enriching the lives of countless persons. Her lessons, purpose and contributions will comprise an eternal flame in the consciousness and lives of the many persons whose lives are better for having known her.

 

One of the most enduring lessons that this stellar teacher, servant leader and community servant will leave is her seminal example as a wife, mother and grandmother. Her years of marriage to Reverend Tyrone Monro remain an inspiration to those of us who are blessed to know them. Her love, admiration, respect and support of her beloved husband were apparent to anyone who knew them even casually. They shared an incredible journey of faith, love, Christian discipleship, vocation and commitment to helping others. Younger couples in the congregation gleaned inspiration from the Monro’s enduring and authentic example. In the autumn years of their relationship, her friendship, affirmation, support and care of Brother Tyrone never waned. As he progressed in a health challenge, her attention to his needs become commensurately meticulous. She used coincidence to veil her ever watchful eye to ensure his well-being. On one occasion, he and I met at Mike’s Diner for brunch. Concerned about my growing disillusionment with ministry and other vocational matters, he asked that we meet. I remain grateful to him and her for the gift of wisdom that I received in that meeting. Nevertheless, and unsurprisingly, Deacon Veronica happened to be nearby and passing by the diner. That coincidence enabled her to remind him of a few things. Silently, I offered thanks for them as I recalled the many other mentoring sessions that he and I had. I imagined that many women had been recipients of Deacon Monro’s counsel and willingness to share her Christian journey and experience.

 

Mystically, the size of her heart grew to adjust to the joys, challenges, growth and rewards of motherhood. In her daughters, Nneka and Siriboa, she imparted her cardinal principles of Christ’s love, loyalty to family, dedication to church and service to humankind especially those vulnerable persons whom the Lord describes as “the least of these.” They embody Deacon Monro’s most incalculable gift to us. Vocationally, Nneka and Siriboa share their beloved mother’s purpose, professionalism and passion in serving other people thereby enabling them with an equitable chance to actualize their talents, abilities and endowments. It is easy to imagine that they daily emulate her distinct example as a wife and mother. Their husbands and children, Deacon Monro’s beloved grandchildren, will receive continually her unconditional love as her beloved daughters honor her enduring example through their daily love and service within marriage and family. Our Christian faith teaches us that love is eternal hence it transcends death and surmounts any other human limitation. Deacon Veronica Monro lives forever in the minds and hearts of the persons in whom she deposited God’s love and grace during her earthly journey.

 

For his “Trial Sermon,” offered to confirm his call to Christ ministry and assess his progress toward ordination, Reverend Tyrone Monro preached on “The Parable of the Ten Virgins” (Matthew 25:1-13). He compellingly espoused the necessity and virtues of cultivating consistency, discipline, preparation and work ethic as foundational attributes to achieve professional and person success. Without the oil of insight and intuition, a person may not be ready to capitalize upon favorable opportunities. The parable divides the virgins into two groups; five are foolish as they fail to save and bring enough oil for the journey of life. The other five are called wise as they do the opposite. A debate persists in the pews and Sunday School rooms throughout the country regarding whether “the wise” virgins are correct in their refusal to share any oil with the unprepared “foolish” virgins who depleted their supply. Within American public policy and discourse, we continually debate the role of personal responsibility in determining the need and parameters of a social safety net. We disagree about allocation of resources and whether and what to share with our fellow citizens who live in need of assistance.

 

Deacon Veronica Monro participated in this debate through her stalwart actions. Definitely one of the “wise” virgins, she differed with her counterparts as she was most willing to share her oil. Her life is a testament to her enduring contribution of assisting other people in acquiring oil for their lamps which contain their dreams, hopes, ambitions, goals, ability to achieve self-realization and personal destiny. Her life was a testament of God’s grace as she selflessly shared her understanding of Christ’s love through her professional and public service. As a Special Education teacher and trainer, she realized that an inherent inequity exists as students begin their preparation for life. Some of them do not have any oil to save or fill their lamps as the persons who rear them have a limited and shrinking supply.  Her journey as a Christian disciple progressively equipped her with grace and generosity to keep oil in the lamps of her students, family, congregants, neighbors and brothers and sisters in our global village. She understood the oil of Christ’s love to be redemptive, selfless, sacrificial, restorative and holistically healing. One of her lasting legacies is her willingness and liberality in sharing it with others.

 

A “Deacon Exemplar” and faithful servant of God, Veronica Monro rightly deserves commendation and lasting commemoration within the household of faith, educational community, her sorority and larger community whom she diligently served. The author of 1 Peter 1:9 depicts Christian disciples as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” This verse perfectly summarizes the life, love and legacy of Veronica Monro. As an educator, she traveled with students and teachers as they journeyed through the darkness of misinformation and lack of knowledge and skills until they saw the light at the end of tunnel leading to education and empowerment. As a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, she fervently shared her oil with persons in need. As a Deacon, she bountifully shared Christ’s love by faithfully performing her priestly duties ceremonially and meeting the congregation’s embodied needs. Most admiringly, she accomplished those admirable tasks without sacrificing the necessity of her priestly duties in marriage, motherhood and family. Having demonstrated the attributes of a Proverbs 31 woman, she lives forever in the minds and hearts of her beloved husband, daughters, grandchildren, extended relatives and friends.

 

A difficult task endures for most Christian disciples. It is necessity of accepting the transition to eternal life of beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord. Accordingly, I conclude this commemorative reflection of thanksgiving as an initial step in this process. I lament the loss of Veronica Monro because I deeply regret the pain it causes those who knew her dearly and the vacuum it creates in servant leadership in the church and community. Her contributions were unique and enduring. Nonetheless, offering thanksgiving for her well-lived life and impressive example of Christian discipleship require me to be grateful for her entrance into eternal life where the Lord’s love and light shall perpetually shine upon her. In the triumphant words of the author of Revelation, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (Revelation 14:13) May Deacon Veronica Monro rest in peace. In the confident hope of Christ’s promises to the eternally redeemed, may she rise and share in His glory.

 

Submitted in Christ’s love,

The Reverend Victor M. Singletary

Assistant Pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn (1995-2000)  

 

What a Difference a Day Makes: 

Seeing My Daughter as a Young Adult Lady

 

Recently, my daughter and our family experienced a major American rite of passage. We traveled to the American South to move her into her college dormitory. She successfully transferred into the school that she greatly desired to attend, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Founded in 1789, the year that coincides with the founding of the American federal republic, UNC Chapel Hill is the oldest public university in the United States. It is one of the crown jewels of American higher education. Beyond its endless list of distinctions and accolades borne of two hundred and thirty-three years of progressively qualitative education in the liberal arts, natural sciences and emerging fields, it is the school that is right for my daughter. After the brisk passage of the summer months, the first Friday in August dawned.

 

We awoke to frustrating and regrettable news that the airline had cancelled our meticulously scheduled flights. My daughter, my wife and I separately called the airlines and vacation vendors to salvage our departure time. Initially, their personnel rebuffed us with arrogance, indifference and extremely poor customer service. Our three hours of persistence yielded a delay of five and a half hours from our original departure time. Our excitement did not wane. We secured the house and completed our last-minute packing before the Uber arrived. Thirty minutes later, we put our bags on curbside at the City’s larger airport. Then, we navigated the revolving doors to begin the trek of paying for claimed bags and passing through security. This part of air travel disillusions the most optimistic person. It seems like a full-time job to take off your shoes, remove your belts and watches, empty your pockets, take off any jackets, fleeces or sweatshirts, take out your computers, tablets, keys and phone, put them in plastic bins and wait to pass through scanning machines. Exasperation increases as the people before you in line move ever so slowly. The TSA agents appear lackadaisical. You feel as if there must be a better way of ensuring the security of airline passengers. Finally, to your pleasant and anticlimactic surprise, you surmount these challenges with a silent and personal pledge to drive next time regardless of the distance. Once you arrive at the gate are, you simply face another set of traveling hurdles.

 

At the gate, we encountered persons who used more space than they needed. They laid their bags, food and other belongings across a few chairs thereby preventing families like ours from sitting together. Some parents failed to watch and discipline their children who ran rambunctiously around the seats as if they were on a playground. I had the misfortune of sitting next to a guy who was using his phone to reinforce music and vocal lessons. I surmised that he had embarked upon a losing cause as his voice and the music sounded irrefutably incongruent. The disciplines of time, practice and affirmations could not remedy that situation. Inexplicably, I failed to ask him to stop. Was I too afraid to do so? Did I not wish to cause a disturbance? Did I fear offending this man? My irritation certainly fueled these thoughts even though I failed to act upon them. Nonetheless, our boarding time came after a day of delays and other comedies of error. As we stood in line, I glanced at my daughter whom I still saw as my “Baby Girl,” an older adolescent. That thought and image of her continued throughout the flight. It was as if we were leaving her for an extended stay at summer camp. Upon arrival at the Raleigh Durham Airport, I would have a mystical moment in which I irreversibly saw her in a new light.

 

The epiphany that my adolescent daughter is now a young adult collegian occurred in the baggage claim area. I chose to stand near the luggage carousel and retrieve the one bag that she tagged. As I waited for her formidable green suitcase holding a semester’s worth of clothes, I glanced over to my daughter to confirm that I was about to take the right bag. In that instant, I no longer saw a girl but an adult collegian. In that moment, I realized that my “Baby Girl” had grown up and become a young woman. Then, I thought about the trip. I left the City with my older adolescent daughter. I arrived five states later with a young collegian. What a difference a day makes. Prior to that flight, she passed the road test and obtained her driver’s license. She began to drive herself to work. Her initiative-taking means of getting to work were an outgrowth of her fierce work ethic. Her diligence in her studies in high school and her first year and a half at another college culminated in her successful transfer to UNC Chapel Hill. There are additional achievements that attest to her inner fortitude, determination, ambition, intelligence and gifts. These personal, academic and work accomplishments are fruit of her maturity and preparation for that flight on the first Friday in August. Indeed, I looked across the baggage claim area and saw my young adult daughter, a second-year collegian, and not the vulnerable toddler who latched onto my legs during speaking engagements. Not surprisingly, memories of her first days of childcare, kindergarten and school, her learning to ride a bike, her high school choral performances, her coming to the car at the end of a party and a thousand other reflections flooded my mind for an instant. Those images disappeared into the sands of time and yielded to the present canvass which depicted a young lady who is ready to complete her collegiate career and embark upon her personal and professional path.

 

During the next two days, we were in and out of Target, Wal-Mart, Belk Lindsey, Bed Bath & Beyond and other stores. We saw numerous families who were fellow pilgrims on this journey of accepting a new normal in the parent and child relationship and readjustment of family composition and living arrangements. Intermittently, we stopped and feasted upon delicious Southern cuisine including fried okra, barbecue, sweet potato biscuits, cheesy grits, “real” bacon and an assortment of cakes and pies particularly peach. My son and I did the dutiful heavy lifting and cleaning. We wiped each inch of the walls on her side of the room. She insisted upon a redo of the shower and bathroom though the university facilities staff had done a respectable job. In the early afternoon on Monday, it was evident that we had fully moved her into her room. We would leave her to decorate her side of the room with her distinctive style and flare. From her elementary school days, she possesses a gift of design, fashion, space and color coordination. The moment of finality arrived. I am proud of myself in that I did not cry. My daughter had a joyous smile on her face. Her happiness and excitement overshadowed any silent sadness, anxiety or apprehension. In that instant, I hugged her tightly and said, “Baby Girl, I am so proud of you. I am so proud of you.” I then turned and left the room to allow her brother and mother their private moment. In that moment, I realized that I did not leave an adolescent on the other side of the door but a young adult collegian.

 

The pride of the Chapel Hill community is unparalleled and infectious. Though I am a loyal alumnus of my alma mater, I find myself essentially cheerleading for my daughter’s school. My pride in her and her achievements spill over into conversations with my relatives, friends and contemporaries. It also morphs into raucous enthusiasm for the school. A trip to the student store punctuated my newfound feeling for UNC Chapel Hill. It further crystalized my reflections on this post. I did not buy any clothing, car decals, hats or decorative ware. The one item that I had to buy was a mug which reads, “Carolina Dad.”

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