33. The Monks Home-Virginia Monks

The Monks Home - Virginia Monks

J.L. Harris, 1978.

  Why did Virginia Monks decide to provide a home for women who are alone?
  When her husband, Merrett Monks, first was elected to office in the Randolph County court house, neither he nor she believed in nepotism, and she decided to get a job or start a business to keep occupied while he was at work.

  Recalling how much her aunt had enjoyed living at the Margaret Smith Home in Richmond, Mrs. Monks wondered whether such a project would be practical in the Winchester area. After discussing it with several women who had business acumen, she was encouraged, so began a search for a possible location. After looking through the vacant Miller home on South Main street, both Mrs. Monks and her husband were impressed, and she obtained a loan with which to make the purchase. This was in 1944.
 Next, she inserted in the local newspaper an article announcing her plan to establish a home for women, and then started cleaning up the property's three floors and basement. Four women who needed a place to stay, moved in before the house was completely ready for occupancy, and by the spring of 1945 the Monks Home was housing 10 residents.

  For the first 15 years Mrs. Monks worked at her project alone, with her husbands encouragement. Then they formed a partnership, and he took an active interest in the business until his death in 1966.
  Mrs. Monks was born in Goshen, Ind. The early years of her life were spent with her family in different parts of the country. The family moved to Randolph County from the state of Oregon when she was 10 years old. She has lived in Randolph County since, except for a year spent at Terre Haute Normal College. Before her marriage, she taught at Deerfield School for one year.

  Mrs. Monks, 76, who for the past 33 years has owned the home for women who are alone, currently  has ladies staying with her that range in age from the 60's to the 90's and there is always a waiting list of persons wishing to move in.
  Mrs. Monks, who refers to herself as one of the girls, admits that she is slowing down and that she is becoming hard of hearing. She has more help than she used to. In addition to two cooks, there is a woman who does the general cleaning on a regular basis, and a woman who goes in at nights to relieve Virginia of some of the 24-hour-a-day responsibility, allowing her full nights of rest. Mrs. Glenn (Harriet) Engle sees to the wants and needs of the residents, and the house, of nights.

  Like the other women, she has one room to call her own and is filled, almost to the brim, with her personal possessions. She points out it's 'areas', office, sewing, library, sleeping, TV, living (an easy chair, plus a rocker and some straight-backed chairs), and, under a table, a toolbox. Her closet, she says, is like Fibber McGee's-when she opens it's door, she must stand out of the way of it's exploding contents. Her piano is in the living room for everyone to enjoy.

  Mrs. Homer Waltz, her neighbor just across the alley, says "I couldn't praise her enough. She's a fine neighbor, a delightful person. All this sounds as if she is too good to be true. But she's real!"