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Former 1950's drag racer, Homecoming Queen, and member of the local South Hadley Falls gang known as the "Hotheads", Monique Curran ( née Bachand), passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 10th. She had just turned eighty-five three weeks earlier.

For more than forty years, Monique worked overnights as a switchboard operator at Providence Hospital. She was a Cub Scout den leader for her eldest son, costume seamstress for her dance-obsessed youngest daughter, and the person all of her children turned to for comfort and support.

At the age of twelve, Monique's family immigrated to the United States from Montreal, Canada. She travelled with her sisters, Esther and Andreé, (both predeceased) and her brothers, Roger and Robert (both predeceased), and parents Antoinette and Agna Bachand (also predeceased).

Monique's family settled in South Hadley Falls. Soon after, she was enrolled at Immaculate Conception school.  It was there where she learned English. She spent every recess with an empathetic nun memorizing English words.

Years later at the age of twenty, she went for a ride with some friends. She slid into the backseat and bumped into someone new, James Curran (predeceased) of Holyoke, her future husband. According to everyone in the vehicle, the spark was instant.

"I chased him until he caught me," she wrote in her Wedding Journal two years later. Monique and Jim were happily married for sixty-three years, sixty of which were spent in Granby, MA. Their love and absolute dedication to one another has been a blessing and guide for three generations.

Monique was mom to five children: Michael, James, Kathleen, Lisa, and Jennifer. She would become grandma and great grandma to more than a dozen grandchildren. Her greatest joy was having all of her grandkids at her house every Sunday. Monique bonded yet another generation so tightly cousins were more like siblings. Even in the midst of the joyous chaos, she forged an individual relationship with each of her grandchildren. Every holiday, birthday, and celebration had her right in the middle, causing trouble and cracking all of us up. She wasn't simply the life of the party, she was life itself.

Her family takes great solace in knowing that she and Jim are together again, this time forever.

Calling hours for Monique Curran are Friday, September 16th 9am - 10:30am at O'Brien Family Funeral Home, 33 Lamb St. South Hadley, MA. Mass will follow at 11am at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Granby, with burial services immediately following at West Street Cemetery, Granby, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations to Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org are appreciated. For more information please visit obrienfamilyfh.com