Daily Sitka Sentinel

Domenick J. Monaco Jr., Former Sitkan, Dies at 72

Domenick John Monaco Jr.

 

Domenick John Monaco Jr. went to his heavenly reward Nov. 26 in Sparks, Nevada, after a heroic battle with pancreatic and liver cancer. The former Sitka resident was 72.

He was born May 21, 1949, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Domenick Monaco Sr. and Mae Monaco. Dom grew up in Cecil, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Canon MacMillan High School in 1967. He met his soulmate and love of his life, Carol Jingleski, there and they were inseparable high school sweethearts. They married in 1967 and the union lasted for 54 years.

As a young child and in his teen years, he worked in his family’s business, Monaco Greenhouse and Nursery, which led him to a career as a professional licensed landscape architect.

He attended Pennsylvania State University in University Park. In his junior year, he was nominated by the Dean of Arts and Architecture and hired as the student landscape architect to work on designs for the many Centre County parks that PSU designed.

After graduation, he was hired as a landscape architect for Griswald, Winters, Swain, and Mullin Inc. (GWSM) in Pittsburgh. He was extremely proud of the design projects he was part of, which included Mt. Washington view pods and park, and The Point State Park, especially the fountain design. 

He designed a bikeway around the city, many schools, churches, professional buildings. During that time, he was asked by Carnegie Mellon University to teach an evening adult landscape class. He taught it for three years and enjoyed seeing the designs his students did for their own yards. He also was a judge at horticultural shows in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

He worked at GWSM Inc. until he was hired by the Department of Defense Army Corps of Engineers as a Military Planner in Savannah, Georgia. While there he was in charge of planning at military bases in the southeast U.S. and Puerto Rico.

In 1981, a dream Dom and Carol had about living in Alaska came true. A move to a state, sight unseen and before the Internet, was an expected two-year adventure that lasted 32 years. Dom was hired as the Tongass National Forest landscape architect in Sitka. Eventually he became the Regional Landscape Architect for Forest Service Region 10, which covered the entire state. In his tenure, his team designed many recreational cabins – one he was especially proud of was Lake Eva, a fly-in cabin with accommodations for handicapped people. His Mendenhall Glacier visitor center and Skaters Cabin recreation areas in Juneau won national awards.

 He also had a landscape architect business in Sitka with longtime Pennsylvania friend Bill Ferguson. Together they did a number of design projects in Sitka, including the park in front of the Centennial Building (since remodeled and now Harrigan Centennial Hall).

Dom was an avid sportsman and some of his happiest times were fishing for salmon, ling cod, halibut, and rockfish with his sons, first on the Misty Morn and then on Destiny, his dream boat. Setting pots for Dungeness and king crab were exciting times with his good friends. He loved fishing so much that he wanted to share the joy with so many.

He operated Southeast Coastal Charters on weekends, meeting many wonderful sports-loving people. He especially loved it when there were young families and the children caught their first big king salmon.

Hiking and hunting in the Tongass were great activities; he loved being outdoors. A tradition for Dom and Carol was taking the boat to Vitskari, Kruzof and St. Lazaria Island to float, to picnic on the boat and relax watching the puffins, especially the 4th of July.

Dom was a member of The American Society of Landscape Architects, Construction Specifications Institute, NRA, Boat USA, Elks Lodge 1662 in Sitka, and SNPJ Lodge 138 in Strabane, Pennsylvania 

After retirement and a need for a drier area, he moved to Sparks. He enjoyed fishing at Eagle Lake, California, with a longtime friend, Ron Baer, and reminiscing about their wonderful fishing and hunting days in Alaska.

Dom is survived by his wife, Carol; sons Craig of Sparks and Christopher of New York; grandchildren Brooklyn, Andrea, Dylan, and Colby; sisters, Dolores (Buzzy) Schweitzer and Diana (Jack) Stromple; and numerous nieces and nephews, and lifelong friends.

Preceding him in death were his parents, a sister, Eileen Monaco Bradley, a nephew Scott Bradley, his parents-in-law Steve and Mary Jingleski, and brother-in-law, Bob Jingleski.

At his request, no service will be held. He asked everyone to just hug loved ones and enjoy each day, go out and enjoy God’s country, fish, hike, camp and enjoy nature.

Contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Hospital – he deeply felt for children and said no child should ever suffer.

Carol can be reached at 6909 Voyage Drive, Sparks, Nevada 89436, or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .