Monica Brandies

A visitation will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Seffner with the Funeral Mass to follow at 11:00 a.m. Burial will take place after Mass at Limona Cemetery.

Monica was born on November 24, 1938 in Dayton, Ohio. She is the daughter of Michael and Gretchen Moran. By the 2nd grade, her family moved to a farm on the outskirts of Xenia, Ohio, where she attended St. Brigid Catholic school and met her future husband David. After graduating from St. Brigid, Monica attended The Pennsylvania School of Horticulture in Ambler, Pennsylvania, (which became part of Temple University of Philadelphia in 1958, the same year she graduated) where she earned an Associate Degree in Science.

Monica returned to Xenia and married David Brandies on July 5, 1958. They spent several years in Xenia and Dayton, Ohio, and Durant and Wilton, Iowa, before moving to Brandon, Florida, in 1987 with 5 of their 9 children. Monica was a lifelong gardener and writer. She was a regular contributor to newspapers in Iowa and Florida. She authored eleven books and contributed to several more. In addition to writing, Monica was a guest speaker at many garden clubs, covering five states. Her contribution to the gardening community will be deeply missed. In 2008, Temple University named Monica a "Temple University Alumni Fellow". She spent her retirement continuing to raise her youngest daughter Teresa, tending to her garden, and hatching monarch butterflies.

Monica is lovingly remembered by her two sisters, Anne Lerch and Carolyn (Bob) Vandenhuevel, her devoted husband, David Brandies, their nine children, Phil Brandies, Mike Brandies, Mary (Bryce) Belitz, Brigid (Denny) Hunt, John (Susan) Brandies, Tom Brandies, Gretchen (Michael) Ammons, Catherine Brandies, Teresa Brandies, fifteen grandchildren, twenty-one great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

Monica was preceded in death by her parents, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephew.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.HillsboroMemorial.com for the Brandies family.