Vanita Mae Thomsen died September 7, 2026, in Urbandale, Iowa from Alzheimer's disease.

One evening in 1972 changed the course of Vanita's life. Born September 25, 1949, in Plainview, Nebraska, Vanita grew up on her family's farm near Royal. Like her sisters, she graduated from Neligh High School (1967) and Wayne State College (1970) in Business Education before teaching in Mapleton, Iowa. As the family story goes, Vanita's roommate was smoking marijuana in their apartment, which made her uncomfortable. So she went to a local bar to pass the evening with a soda. Some unknown rat saw her and reported her to the school principal. She was called into his office and reprimanded for being a single female teacher in a bar at night. Soon after, Vanita left not only that job, but the entire Midwest.

Vanita traveled to Juneau, Alaska, intending a short vacation. She never really came back. Vanita randomly found and accepted work with the Alaska Department of Education, where she met Tom Monk. For a young woman from rural Nebraska, the choices that followed were even less conventional for the time. Vanita and Tom built a life together in Alaska, eventually eloped, and welcomed their son Travis in Juneau. Her choices upset her family, particularly her parents, and opened a divide that never fully closed. Clarence and Corinne traveled to Alaska to visit, experiencing a world far removed from their Nebraska farm. Clarence, who struggled for every drop of water, marveled at Juneau's enormous tides and lush rainforests. Vanita's sisters and their children came too, and Tom taught his nieces and nephews to tie lures and clean their catch in the Alaskan wilderness.

Vanita knew that her choices also had a cost. Leaving Nebraska broke her parents' hearts, and she carried some guilt for that pain throughout her life. Decades later, she found herself on the other side of that same heartbreak when her own child chose a life even farther from home. Perhaps Vanita began a restless lineage. She had the yearning, curiosity, and courage to build a life unique to her. When that same restlessness was inherited by her son, she lovingly accepted it despite knowing the heartbreak it would cost. Vanita is finally at peace, but may the restlessness she began live on. May Sophie carry it forward, build a life uniquely her own, and break her parents' hearts in turn.

Vanita was preceded in death by her husband, Tom Monk; her parents, Clarence and Corinne Thomsen; her sister, Glenda McIntire (Thomsen); her brother-in-law, Robert McIntire; and her nephew, Michael McIntire. She is survived by her son, Travis Monk; daughter-in-law, Rebecca Njeim; and granddaughter, Sophie Monk, of Jbeil, Lebanon; and her sister, Ilene Pohlman (Thomsen), and brother-in-law, Roger Pohlman, of Story City, Iowa.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to Alzheimer's research.