Monna Jo Eglen

Monna “Jo” (Poole) Eglen played her handbells (and likely cowbell) as she announced her arrival in Heaven on January 24, 2025 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Jo was born March 8, 1944 in Sullivan, Indiana, the youngest of 3, to Lewis “Rex” Poole and Florence Rosalia Poole nee Hoesman.

After being Valedictorian of her high school at Sullivan High School she went to Indiana State University where she received an undergrad degree in Chemistry with a Minor in Classical Organ. She would later return to Indiana State to get a Masters in Math.

At ISU, she was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority as well as various other student organizations. After graduation, she went to work in the laboratory at Eli Lilly on Prozac with Ray Fuller’s Team that went on to invent this life-changing medication. Life came full circle for Jo when she selflessly became a part of the Donenamab trial at Eli Lilly in 2021 which is commercially now known as Kisunla. Through the participation of Jo – and hundreds of others in the trial – we pray this horrible, mind-wasting disease will soon become a thing of the past.

Her time working on Prozac was short (as was the use of her Chemistry degree) as the love of her life, Jan Eglen – and husband of 58+ years – convinced her shortly after starting her job in the lab to marry him and follow him to California. (In more recent years, with the success of Lilly, she often questioned whether marrying Jan and moving to California was really the right decision…😉)

Jan and Jo were married on October 1, 1966 in Sullivan, IN and headed West to Newport Beach after the reception that day. The company Jan went to work for assured him a job for his bride and they trained her to be a computer programmer at McDonnell Douglas Space and Astronautics, which would become her lifelong career. After a few years in California, Jan and Jo chose to move back to Indiana to start a family. They chose to plant their roots in the gorgeous, bustling metropolis of Terre Haute, Indiana, where they would live well in to their retired years.

Upon their return, Jo continued her computer programming career with a job at Reuben-Donnelley where she also instructed others in programming. Following that, the remainder of her professional career was at Columbia House as a computer programmer until they closed in 2010. Jo was one of the last 10 employees to walk out the doors of what had once been (quite possibly) the largest distributor of music during the 80s and 90s and creator of the first version of spam mail – but it was for your mailbox, not your inbox. 

A family they eventually started with the birth of their son, Jeremy, followed by the birth of their daughter (and mini-Jo), Jocelyn.

Jo made more contributions to the world of computer programming, music, her sorority and caring for animals more than thought humanly possible; she also loved her Merlot (but let’s be real, “Mommy’s Special Coke” could be anything) so feel free to grab your drink of choice in her memory and continue reading.

Jo wrote the first computer program, PairPlus, to allow for electronic pairing at Chess Tournaments. If you ever participated in a chess tournament pre-PairPlus, you would understand the impact this made as National Chess Tournament pairings were no longer done by hand (which often resulted in elementary to high school aged students finding corners of hotel ballrooms to sleep in as they waited for the hand pairings to be completed). She was asked to help with the production of Searching for Bobby Fischer using her software to create pairings displayed throughout the movie.

During this time she was asked by Eunice Kennedy Shriver to create a computer program (laptop computers had just come on the scene) allowing for uses such as: for scoring track and field for Special Olympics and this gave rise to the Special Olympics as we now know them on an international scale.

She was a lover of music and instilled that in her children. While they might have viewed the forceful participation in piano lessons as child abuse, they will now acknowledge she actually knew what she was doing. She played handbells with the United Methodist Church in Terre Haute, was a member of the Terre Haute Chorale Society, organist/pianist at church and flautist with the Terre Haute Symphony Band.

Education was encouraged and prioritized in the Eglen home. She continued her children’s perceived dreaded torture by ensuring they could speak and write properly - to the extent of forcing work in grammar workbooks in the summer; Jo was not about to allow her kids to have the most poor English. She continued to correct improper grammar - even in her final months. 

She was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and became involved as an alum upon Jocelyn joining the sorority. She was an advisor for many years – long after Jocelyn’s active years – and was loved by so many! She was a home away from home for many of the girls and Bid Day was always hosted at the Eglens’. While her niece was active as a Gamma Phi at ISU (prior to Jocelyn joining AOPi), she took on the role of “college mom” to her niece and so many of her sorority sisters. She will forever be “Aunt Jo” to so many.

She also taught children to read in a church sponsored program.

Up until her diagnosis, Jo and her best girlfriends from Sullivan would take a girls trip every summer – leaving behind their husbands and children – to run amuck and create havoc in all corners of the United States. That friend group was lovingly known as “the girls” and to this day, we still have questions as to why they were all banned from Las Vegas. (They weren’t, but there are unknowns about what exactly happened when she would leave with the girls and why she would turn off the car phone once outside the city limits of Terre Haute every trip – or so it seemed to those left at home.)

She loved her family almost as much as she loved her animals (that is not a typo). She had cats and dogs from a young age growing up and not only continued that fondness for them all of her life but she instilled the love of animals into her children and grandchildren, as well. Even on the coldest winter days, with the windchill well below freezing and snow coming down, Jo could be found filling bird feeders and putting out corn for the squirrels so everyone would have plenty of food at her café.

She was a lovely person to all who knew her; her kindness, spirituality, personality, intelligence, beauty, strength, fearlessness, friendship, talent, parenting skills, care for others including animals and people, love, but most of all, her bravery, fighting Alzheimer’s and never once complaining of her misfortune in over eight years. She defined what a woman should be.

Survivors include her husband of 58 years, Jan, her son Jeremy (Karen) Eglen of Avon, IN, daughter Jocelyn Eglen of Carmel, IN, grandchildren Jonah, Ruth and James Eglen. 5 granddogs and 5 grandkitties. Also surviving is her sister, Karen Sue Michael, of Granbury, TX and several brothers and sisters-in-law as well as many nieces and nephews – all of whom were very special to Jo. She also had a large number of “home-away-from-home” daughters she gained thru her niece and daughters sorority who impacted Jo as much as Jo did them. Her kids’ friends were also very cherished by Jo and vice versa. As the kids grew to a legal age and Jo was able to reveal the true identity of “Mommy’s Special Coke”, the fun and laughter continued at a new level. She became a second mom to most of Jeremy and Jocelyn’s friends and loved having everyone at the house together. She was loved by all and will be missed by all.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother (William), her father-in-law and mother-in-law, John Eglen and Helen Eglen nee Speer as well as several cousins and aunts and uncles. She also most certainly had an army of four-legged friends awaiting her arrival! The list is quite lengthy but, most certainly awaiting her were her very own Teddy, Chance, Max, Toby, Newspaper, Frodo, Blizzard, and the first two ‘Eglen’ children for Jan and Jo – Alfie and Angel - as well as her grandpups Ollie, Morgan, Tasha, Jordye, Maggie, Rudy, Braxtyn and Venkman.

She was a member of Cross Lane Community Church in Terre Haute, IN along with various other organizations mentioned above.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her name to GRRACE (Golden Retriever Rescue and Community Education), the Alzheimer's Association or the Indiana State University Foundation. 

There will be a small graveside service for family on Thursday, January 30, 2025, followed by a larger celebration of life in Terre Haute, IN at Cross Lane Community Church (2204 Lafayette Ave). Her celebration of life will take place on March 8, 2025 (Mama Jo’s Birthday) with a visitation preceding from 10-12 and a service at 12 with Brett Wilson officiating.

The family asks everyone to come in bright colors (as comfortable) or something that reminds you of Jo and a smile on their face like Mama Jo would wear when she’d outsmarted Jan or her children (particularly Jeremy)….yet again.)

Arrangements were entrusted to Flanner Buchanan – Hamilton Memorial Park. Online condolences may be shared by visiting www.flannerbuchanan.com.