University employee Piedad A. Deasey, 68, passed away on Friday, Feb. 7 from a form of cancer that has not yet been confirmed.
Most commonly referred to as Pia, Deasey worked in the University’s Magill Commons Dining Hall since Nov. 28, 2007.
Ever since she was hired, Pia has made an impact on the University’s student body.
Jackie Chalet, a junior business marketing major, had a particularly close relationship with Deasey. “Last year, I noticed she started wearing a wig and then she told me she had cancer. I was picking up some x-rays and I ran into her at the hospital one day and I assumed she was there for chemo. She didn’t have her wig on,” Chalet said. “She was happy as ever though… there wasn’t a negative bone in her body.
Deasey not only expressed a positive attitude to students on a daily basis, but she also inspired them to become better people.
“Honestly, I only wish to be as positive as her. It’s women and humans like Pia that makes you realize to appreciate life and all it offers, whether it be good or bad because like she frequently told me and other students, ‘enjoy your time here, it goes by fast,'” Chalet said. “Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if she was talking about our time at Monmouth University or life in general. Either way, she has a point and I’ll make my point to appreciate the little things in life and keep positive during every step of life,” she added.
Alexandra Phillips, a junior communication major, said, “Freshman year, I learned the names of the people that worked in the dining hall and they learned my name, and Pia was one of them that I got to know quickly and would always say hi to me,” she added. “I would walk in and say ‘hola Pia’ and she would say ‘hola Alexandra,’ she liked my full name better, and she would teach me some Spanish and that was it. It happened every day since then.”
Kyle Evans, a senior communication major, also felt strongly about the University’s former employee. “Pia was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. She had a great sense of humor and was just all about brightening everyone else’s day,” he said.
Phillips and Evans are just a few of the many who adored Deasey and looked forward to seeing her small stature waiting at the Magill Commons Dining Hall’s front desk to scan them in. When she began to only appear every so often earlier this year, students began to worry.
Nicole Comito, a senior art major, said, ” I had heard rumors in the past that she was sick and when I started seeing her less and less I assumed she was taking some time off or working became too much for her.”
While plenty of students considered Deasey part of their family, many did not know the woman she was before she began working at Monmouth University.
Born on Oct. 12, 1945, Deasey was raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador where she received an education from a Catholic boarding school. She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting and her master’s degree in education while gaining a minor in child psychology.
After college, she moved to the US and met her husband, William L. Deasey. The two operated a jewelry business together up until his death in July, 1999. Upon the passing of her husband, Deasey became an elementary school Spanish teacher. It was after all this that she began working at the University.
Deasey is survived by her son, daughter and two grandchildren.
PHOTO TAKEN from dignitymemorial.com
