Mona Lee Lucas Duty died August 1, 2022 just days after celebrating her 92nd birthday. Though mentally distanced in recent years with the development of Alzheimer’s, Mona never lacked in the giving and receiving of love with those who knew her best. Surrounded by a grateful family, sharing rich memories, many tears, and lots of warm laughter, she was loosed back into the arms of God, to whom she had faithfully dedicated her life.
Mona’s lasting legacy is far-reaching, having touched the lives of many from her childhood in West Virginia, to her early years of marriage on Air Force bases in Tampa, Florida and Baltimore, Maryland, to several decades ministering in various locations throughout Ohio and Tennessee, to their final retirement years in middle Tennessee.
Mona first graced the world with her beautiful blue eyes on July 24, 1930. The loving daughter of Bowden and Myrtle Lucas and sister of Glen and Glema, who all preceded her in death, she was born in the same West Virginia home where she would live until her wedding day.
Unknowingly, Jim Duty, another native of West Virginia, was born just nine months later. They met at a Gospel meeting in Banco, West Virginia. “She was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen,” Jim remembered. There, Jim’s “impressive” bass voice found its match in Mona’s alto, and ultimately the two of them married and began a harmonious love story spanning 70 years. Out of that love grew two children, first David Wayne (Dave) followed by Sharon Lynn, both the pride and joy of their parents’ hearts. As the children grew, their home was a place of love and laughter.
Mona served in many roles including as a student at Marshall University, a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse, a bookkeeper, a banking employee, and an Avon saleswoman. But it was her role as a minister’s wife that defined her, beginning with Jim and Mona giving their lives to God in baptism in the icy, February waters of West Virginia in 1953. Whether through her talents as a seamstress, teaching children’s Sunday school classes, or leading Ladies Day retreats, Mona was Jim’s constant companion in their lifetime of service to God and others. After retiring in Tennessee, she and Jim became members at Southern Hills Church of Christ. During their off days, Jim and Mona could often be found on the golf course where they enjoyed some loving competitive rivalry. Smart money was always on Mona – the queen of the greens, who became a local legend there in northern Ohio known as “One Putt Mona”.
Jim and Mona’s favorite shared passion was always family, their home becoming the site of many fun-filled summer vacations for their grandchildren, where “Mamaw’s” fridge was always full and the bike tires stayed pumped and ready. Mona was known for being generous, most especially when birthdays or Christmas came around, and many warm holiday memories were made in Nashville at the family homes of their two children.
Mona’s life will continue to be celebrated by her husband Jim, son David (reunited together in death), daughter Sharon (Keith), daughter-in-law Laurie Duty-Robinson, her granddaughter Shannon (John), her grandson Ryan (Lisa), and her six great-grandchildren – Joshua, David, Naomi, and Jacob Ott, and Maya, and Lucia Nikolaus.
Mona, “Mom”, and “Mamaw”, we love you!
Visitation will be held on August 3rd at 10:30 a.m. at Williamson Memorial Funeral Home on Columbia Drive in Franklin, Tennessee. A memorial service will follow at 12:00 p.m. Following the service there will be a family burial at Veterans Cemetery on McCrory Lane in Nashville.
In lieu of flowers, please consider helping us build a well in Mona’s honor by donating to The Living Water Project. For details on how to give online or by mail, please visit https://www.livingwaterwells.org/donate. When giving online, there is a field on the payment page that says “+ Add special instructions to the seller.” Click on that and add “in memory of Mona Duty.” Donations can also be sent to The Living Water Project, 409 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37027.
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