Monica Tully, beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 15 at the age of 89. Born in Santa Monica on October 8, 1920, Monica lived in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades all her life. She enjoyed a very rich life filled with loving family, friends, and assorted animals. As a youngster, Monica attended Holy Trinity School and St. Monica’s School, and graduated from Santa Monica High School, in 1938. She then attended Santa Monica College. She enjoyed volleyball, swimming, and other ocean sports, and cut a trim figure on her surfboard. In the 1930s and 1940s, she was a member of the Santa Monica Paddle & Surfing Club. In the 1940s she was one of the founders and members of the all-woman ‘Manoa Paddleclub,’ which was stationed at the Santa Monica Pier. She and her best friend, Mary Ann Hawkins-Stader, surfed and competed up and down the coast of California in the 1930s and 1940s. Her father, James Roche, a respected Los Angeles attorney, would swim great distances by himself in the Santa Monica Bay. This earned him the respect of the Santa Monica lifeguards. Later, when his daughter, Monica, hit the beach scene as a teenager, she also garnered respect and gained many close, life-ong friends among the Santa Monica lifeguards and the emerging surf community. In 1941, Monica married Alfred ‘Curly’ Polkinghorn. They lived in Santa Monica, where they raised their children, Carol and John. Monica was a long-time member of the Santa Monica Beach & Swim Club, where she also worked as an activities coordinator. She and Curly owned the ‘Bay View Seafood’ market located on the Santa Monica Pier. They owned their own fishing boats, which were kept in Santa Monica harbor. Later, she was employed at Barker Brothers’ department store, where she was a customer favorite because of her kindness and reliability. She worked with Murray Spivack in the sound department at 20th-Century Fox studio for over 30 years, working on many movies such as ‘Hello Dolly,’ ‘Doctor Dolittle,’ ‘ The Sound of Music,’ ‘Patton,’ ‘Tora Tora Tora’ and ‘The Sand Pebbles.’ In 1971, Monica married Wilford H. Tully and they moved to Pacific Palisades. They enjoyed traveling but were most happy sitting by the pool or tending to their garden and being entertained by their dogs, cats, parrots, squirrels, and a few wild mallards. Wilford and Monica provided a welcoming home base for their large blended family. Monica kept a collection of scrapbooks chronicling the activities of her family and friends; these scrapbooks provide a personal remembrance of 20th-century Santa Monica. In recent years, Monica enjoyed volunteering for the Pacific Palisades chapter of the AARP, where she served as secretary. She made many dear friends in the AARP, several of whom provided moral support during her recent illness. She won the award for having the most grandchildren, which now stands at 19. She was an avid supporter of the ASPCA, Parrot Rescue League and the Pacific Palisades Branch Library. Monica is survived by her son, John Polkinghorn; son-in-law, Bill Zimmermann; grandchildren, Stephanie McLean-Coleman, Christine McLean-Greene, Sean McLean, Adam Zimmermann, Cindy Polkinghorn, and Kelly Polkinghorn. She leaves great-grandchildren stepdaughters. Monica was preceded in death by her loving daughter, Carol Polkinghorn-Zimmerman and her late husband, Wilford H. Tully. A memorial will be held in her honor on November 8, at 1 p.m. at the Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church (15821 Sunset), where she and her late husband married. A reception will follow at her home in Pacific Palisasdes. Monica will always be remembered for her kind and giving nature, she was always able to turn a frown into a smile. Her greatest treasures were being with her husband, caring for animals, never forgetting a birthday, her lifelong pen pals, her bragging rights to 19 grandchildren, and her love for the ocean and traveling.
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