Family and friends will gather September 6 to celebrate Dan Monahan‘s life, and they’re sharing this remembrance now with the community:

John Daniel Monahan (Dan) was born on July 26th, 1990 and passed away on April 4th, 2025 in Seattle at the age of 34.

Dan was a creative, thoughtful, and accomplished person who also struggled with a lifetime of physical and mental challenges. He was an insightful nature photographer and a prolific writer of fantasy and satire. He spoke and wrote fluent Japanese, which he taught himself – then lived in Japan teaching English to high school students. He was passionate about the martial arts and was a devoted student of Buddhism. He researched and studied extensively the many layers of the human body including all the trigger points, in order to treat his chronic pain from Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. He often supported people who were having troubles in their lives – serving a support role for friends and family who were coping with challenges of the body, mind, or spirit. He worked a long season in the depths of winter at a homeless shelter alongside people who were addicted, sick, and hurting. Dan loved risk, travel and adventure, climbing trees, walls, cliffs, buildings and mountains. He felt most at home in the woods, surrounded by tall forest trees, bodies of water, mountain vistas, and wild animals.

Dan was a beloved son to Viveca and John Monahan. A caring brother to Christina. A cherished nephew to Patricia Monahan and her late husband, Guy Shinkaruk, Moira and Jim McCarthy, Kate Marin, Deirdre Monahan, the late Tom Monahan and his wife, Mary Lester, and the late Mary Wanco and her daughter Melissa Landolfi. He was a dear friend to many from childhood, college, work, community, and life. He will be deeply missed.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2025, at 10:00 am PDT. Please contact the family for more details – vivecamonahan@gmail.com

As we come together to honor Dan’s legacy, we invite all who knew him to share their memories of Dan and upload photos to his memorial page.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)