A remembrance of longtime Heights resident Monique V. King

Monique V. King

Monique V. King (née Wolf), a longtime Cleveland Heights resident, died Feb. 3 in Tucson, where she had been living for the past 25 years. She was 84.

The public is invited to attend a musical tribute to Dr. Monique V. King at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 1 in the chapel of Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 27578 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Heights. A free reception will follow the performance.

Presented by Halida Dinova, features works will include pieces by Bach, Rameau, Beethoven and Chopin.

Born in Paris, King survived the German Occupation during World War II and came to the United States in 1948 on an American Field Service scholarship. In 1950, she married Richard C. King, according to an obituary published in the Arizona Daily Star. 

She graduated magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in 1954 and, from the same school, earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1959 and an M.D. in 1965. She received training in psychoanalysis from the Cleveland Psychoanalytic Institute, and became a training/supervising analyst there in 1983, according to the obituary. On moving to Tucson, she worked to build a psychoanalytic community in southern Arizona. Committed to lifelong learning, King helped to form the Splendido Intellectual Pursuits Program—a mini-university offering courses to area residents—and, among her many other pursuits, organized a series of chamber music concerts with artists from the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

I met Monique King while studying piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music; I was taking English writing lessons from her husband (who died in 2007).

They both took an interest in my concert performances and followed my career over the years. After they moved to Arizona from their home on Mornington Lane, we communicated frequently and I always received their encouragement, advice and affection. They were fully aware of how difficult life could be for a young artist from a foreign country.

I will never forget the encouraging gifts they gave me, such as air miles that allowed me to travel to Europe for performances and recordings; monetary donations for recording projects; and even a warm coat in a cold winter, when they discovered I was ill with bronchitis.

Monique King was a brilliant and disciplined person. I marveled at how she continued to practice medicine in Tucson, passing the difficult qualifying exams to obtain a medical license in Arizona at age 62. Soon after, she purchased a Steinway piano and, starting as a beginner, became proficient enough in three years' time to perform Mozart’s Sonata in C major for friends.

She always enjoyed learning and never accepted any idea of “being too old to do it.” This quality in her has always inspired me. In one of our last conversations, she said, “Nobody should ever hear the ‘organ recital’”—meaning the list of health complaints about growing old. “Instead, there is so much to see, learn and think about.” 

Monique V. King will be greatly missed and remembered.