Monica’s Final Wish: Help Us Bring Her Home

If you’re here, you probably already know: Monica Lantzy wasn’t just someone you knew — she was someone you felt. She was the loudest laugh in the room, the one sneaking you cookies before dinner, crocheting a blanket while schooling you at cards, all while planting a garden for her world-famous salsa (what was your favorite heat level?). And if you didn’t know her? She would’ve welcomed you in anyway.

Monica passed away peacefully at home on June 20, 2025, surrounded by the people who adored her: her husband Ken, her children Jasper and Koren, and her grandkids, Skye and Stella — the stars in her sky. She was only 71, but she packed more life, love, and sass into her years than most do in a century. Her loss leaves a hole bigger than we can put into words.

Mona left her life in Michigan with she fell in Love with Ken Lantzy. Monica and Ken’s love story was one of deep devotion, partnership, and unwavering care. When Monica married Ken, she stepped into a life that required both strength and softness — and she brought both in full. Ken, who has lived with quadriplegia since his high school football injury, never once felt limited in her presence. Monica was his caregiver, his champion, his teammate in every sense of the word. She made their house a home where accessibility met joy, and where care didn’t feel like duty — it felt like love. Whether they were traveling to Michigan, watching their grandkids grow, or just sharing quiet mornings together, Monica and Ken built a life of deep respect, laughter, and mutual admiration. She enriched his world, and he lit up hers. And the entire Lantzy family loved her as their own — not out of obligation, but because she was truly extraordinary.

We started this fundraiser to help cover the overwhelming medical costs from her recent diagnosis of stage 4 adenocarcinoma. On top of the cancer, Monica needed a hip replacement — 85% deteriorated, as the doctors said. But even then, she was cracking jokes with her nurses, dropping her signature “that’s what she said” line with perfect timing. She never stopped being her.

Now, this fundraiser has become something more: a way to carry out Monica’s final wishes. Her heart always belonged to Upper Michigan — to wildflowers and campfires, family road trips with Ken, the “cooler” always packed with snacks, and the quiet lake that felt like home. She wouldn't let Ken cancel their reservations, not even last week. She was determined. There was one more trip in her heart.

We’re asking for help to cover her funeral expenses, the remaining medical costs, and to fulfill her final wish: bringing Monica home to Michigan, where her soul can rest in peace.

What we do have is each other, some salsa jars in the pantry, and the memories of a woman who loved big. She gave everything — to her family, her friends, her church, her garden, and to anyone lucky enough to cross her path. Now we want to give her the send-off she truly deserves.

If you’re able to donate — whether it’s $5, $50, or enough to cover a tank of gas for that final ride up north, or any of the final expenses — we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And if you can’t donate, please share. Every little bit helps.

And wherever she is now, we know she’s in a garden somewhere — coffee in one hand, crochet hook in the other, dancing on tables, cracking jokes, and catching up on all the gossip from those who went home before her.

Thank you for loving our Monica, Mona, Ca-Ca, Monicaca, Mom, Mema, Gram

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