It pains me to deliver this news but our dear friend Joanna Mondae passed away today from pneumonia complications. Those of you who have cruised and spent time with her and even those of you who just know her from her posts here, we all will miss her dearly.

Karen Thanks for letting us know. She was such a special lady and a great friend. I am just heartbroken for Tony.

This news is truly heartbreaking. My thoughts are with Tony. She will certainly be missed.

I am so sad! Joanna was a wonderful person and a very special friend! I will miss her SO much. My prayers are with Tony and her loving family!

Such heartbreaking news. Joanna was truly one of a kind.

Breaks my heart to hear this.

So sorry to hear this -- I was just thinking about her and wondering how she was. She was a dear friend and a dear person. We'll miss her.

How very sad. I'm just so sorry to hear this news.

Thank you Karen for letting us know. Such sad news. We will all miss her vibrant personality in person as well as on LCT.

Oh no! Condolences to her family.

Karen - thank you for sharing this. We are just heart broken over this news, she was such a special lady and we loved her so much. Our hearts, love, prayers and thoughts go out to Tony and her family. This is just such sad news.

Today I had to say goodbye to a very special friend. It's difficult to believe she is truly gone. So many wonderful times when we cruised together. So many special things that friends share, if only in emails and phone calls. I will never forget your beautiful smile, your funny sense of humor and your caring nature. Love!

Thank you for letting us know. Truly sad news.

Joanna was the most friendly person we ever met! She was welcoming and outgoing.

I knew she had serious health issues and we feared this day we'd get the bad news!

Condolences to Tony and family! There will never be anyone as wonderful as Joanna. She was genuinely friendly to all!

Sweet Joanna. She was the first person to welcome me on LCT. Such a wonderful person --- friendly, funny, caring; so special.

SO sorry to hear this news about a very special lady. My condolences to the whole family.

Jan and I are heart broken. We always looked forward to
being on a cruise with Joanna.
Our thoughts are with Tony during this difficult time.

So sad! I never met her but wish so much that I had, like Kim I felt that she welcomed me to LCT. My sympathies to her family.
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Helen

Absolutely heartbroken. We've been writing back and forth and I didn't get an answer to my last email. Now I know why. She was a good friend and I'll miss her

Such very sad news. Joanna was the first person we met on our very first LCT cruise. She made us feel so welcome. Her warmth and mischievous sense of fun made every trip a special one.

My condolences as well

Peggy

This is heartbreaking news. Memories of Joanna and her fun personality will remain with all of those who knew her forever. I can picture Joanna, Tony, Marcie and Tom in the observation lounge and they were always the life of the party. Her smile could light up a room. She was a very special lady. My thoughts are with Tony and her family as they mourn her loss.

This is a tremendous loss - George's and my thoughts are with Tony now.

Although we didn't know Joanna as long and as well as so many of you, Ray and I feel a sense of loss at her passing.

Ray has already been in touch with Tony this morning.

This is a poem I read when I did a very dear friend's eulogy, so I hope you won't mind if I print it here

A Parable of Immortality

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud
Just where the sea and the sky come to mingle with each other.
Then someone says, "There she goes!"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight, that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side

And just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There she goes"

There are other eyes watching her coming

And their voices ready to take up the glad shouts,
"Here she comes!"

By Henry Van Dyke

Our deep condolences to all her many, many friends at LCT.

Pat and Ray

We just got back from a 4 day get away. We're heartbroken but comforted to know she's finally at peace and out of pain.

Tom called Tony as soon as we got word this morning. We'll always cherish memories of our many fun times. Heaven is a much sweeter place with Joanna there . RIP my dear dear friend.

This news makes me so sad. We haven't seen her since un-TUT but really hoped to see her again in the future. We're on a cruise right now - same itinerary as 007 which she was on.

Our thoughts are with Tony and their family.

As Ngaire said, Joanna's smile could light up a room. And did, many times. She was much loved, even by those of us who didn't see her often. Heart-breaking to think of her loss.

We sure loved Joanna and her fantastic personality. She was so lovely and gracious (and so much fun). I can't imagine a cruise without her. Bless her heart.

I'm so sorry to hear this. She was such a lovely, engaging person.

Joanna's Obituary (written by her daughter Sara) :

Christ Episcopal Church
At Ponte Vedra Beach
400 San Juan Drive
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

Joanna Keane Mondae passed away on October 2 at her home in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL after a fourteen year battle with cancer. During the fourteen years she never gave into the disease and in between treatments she traveled extensively with her husband, entertained friends and family, and continued an active life. She was born to Daniel V. and Laura Keane, and grew up, in Fairfield, CT. She met Anthony “Tony” Mondae in Washington, DC and they were married in 1973. They enjoyed over forty years of marriage and together raised five children. Tony and Joanna relocated to Ponte Vedra Beach from Washington, DC in 1977. Joanna worked for 27 years at Christ Church and cherished that community, the parishioners and her colleagues. A mentor and friend to many she particularly treasured the close group of best friends that she and Tony spent years traveling with, entertaining with and sharing family events with. Joanna attended Lasell College in Newton, MA before starting her family. Her grandchildren treasured the summers they spent with “Honey” in Ponte Vedra because of her secret garden, storytelling and imaginary friends and play. She is preceded in death by her son Frederick Bay Neal, III. She is survived by her husband Anthony of Ponte Vedra Beach; her brother Daniel F. Keane and his wife Teale Figgis of Fairfield, CT and their children Laura, Morgan and Forde; her daughter Sara Jane and her husband Christopher of Boston and their daughter Keane; her son Carter of Seminyak, Bali; her daughter-in-law Maria of Fort Lauderdale and her daughters Carly and Hannah; her stepdaughter Lara of Chicago; her stepdaughter Amber and her husband Chad and their son Aiden of Portland, OR.

A Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, October 14 at 11:00 am at Christ Episcopal Church, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Christ Episcopal Church Foundation, Ponte Vedra Beach or to Northeast Florida Community Hospice.

This news breaks my heart - Joanna was truly one-of-a-kind. Our condolences and prayers go out to Tony and the rest of the family. She will be missed by so many.

I have read all these comments over the past few days, and hardly anything could be added, except that is so nice to see the grand reach she enjoyed in this travel world from so many, over and again. Also, to hear some saying she was so welcoming to a person new to a BK cruise. She always was. Honestly, this dear woman never knew a stranger. I've been on so many cruises since our first with her and Tony, and Marcie and Tom in 2004. She would always rope in a stranger or 2 or 3, every cruise we took to distant destinations, We all loved meeting them. There have been so very many since, and through all those cruises when you are together 24/7 I began to think of them just like I do my "home" friends. A private person, she was, and never shared much about her health battles.

It warms my heart to see our impressions of this wonderful lady are shared in the same way by all. Generous of spirit, the ultimate mom, wife, and hostess at home, and a traveler who immersed herself in all she did. A very rich life, indeed.

I think Joanna will be with everyone of us in spirit whenever we board a ship, I know Frank and I will be thinking of her everytime we board a cruise.

We last saw Tony and Joanna on FUN2. She, as always, was full of life, stories and energized by all the possibilities for fun and love. It didn't matter if you'd know her for years or if she was just getting to know you for the first time. A remarkable, remarkable lady. The fourteen years of surviving cancer was a lesson for us all - make the most of each and every day. We send our condolences to Tony and her family and are holding you close in our prayers and thoughts.

We'll toast all she brought to our lives - which is a lot - with sambuca. If you care to virtually join us, I think she'd approve.

Cheers, Anne

Such a loss. A truly wonderful person.

Our condolences and prayers go out to Tony and the rest of the family. She will be missed by so many.

Rod and Cynthia

The results are in: We all LOVED Joanna BUT HATE the terrible scourge of cancer !

We have to fight cancer that has affected so many of our relatives and friends. I'm hoping the scourge will be defeated with a CURE SOON!

I'm rarely serious but this time I AM!!!!

Tom & I were able to get flights to Jacksonville. We're renting a car with Olivia and Arlene. Also so nice and convenient that Tony's next door neighbor is letting us, Olivia, Arlene, Kimmi and John stay in his not being used 3 bedroom condo.

So sorry to read the sad news. Lee

so glad you were able to work out getting there Marcie. Please let Tony know our thoughts will be with them on Tuesday and we will be there in spirit.

Glad you guys are getting to go.

Special lady with special friends.