October 8, 1936 - February 28, 2023
Bradenton, Florida - Dr. Mohinder (Mona) Jain passed away peacefully on February 28, 2023 during a trip to India to immerse the ashes of her husband, Kailash Mohan Jain in the River Ganges. It was her plan with God to be with Kailash forever. She was born on October 8, 1936, in Karachi, India to Beant Singh Sethi and Bhagwanti Sethi. Her in-laws Dr. K.L. Jain (pediatrician to the Nehru and Gandhi families) and Kiran Jain were an integral part of her life.
Mona met the love of her life Kailash, on the first day of orientation at Delhi University and they were married on October 20, 1957. Their only child Anila Jain, M.D., MBA was their pride and joy. The family moved to Sarasota in 1964 when Mona was selected as a Fulbright Educator and Scholar, then to Bradenton in 1970. They were the first family of Indian descent in the Tampa Bay area.
Dr. William Menninger observes six essential qualities key to success: sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, and charity. These describe the character of Dr. Mona Jain. Retired as Director of Family Health Services for Manatee County Head Start, this Fulbright and National Science Foundation Scholar and Medical Doctor has been a teacher and administrator in American, British, and Indian systems of education since 1961. Dr. Jain believes in education for all students, especially continuing education for non-traditional mature students. She assisted numerous mature women and men return to school for the last three decades at Bethune-Cookman University, Nova Southeastern University, and other institutions of higher learning.
Dr. Jain demonstrated long-term contributions, achievements, and services within education, medicine, and the community – on a local, state, regional, national, and global level. In recognition, the Manatee County school district dedicated the Dr. Mona Jain Middle School on August 8, 2019, in Lakewood Ranch (Bradenton), Florida. It is the first new school named after an Indian-American in the United States. She worked closely with the STEM curriculum and is known to inspire and mentor students (faculty and staff) to advance their education and focus on successful careers. Recognition of Dr. Jain is not limited to the United States. During a visit to her home country of India, she was granted a private audience with international humanitarian, Mother Teresa.
Dr. Jain's work did not go unnoticed. Dr. Jain was one of only 20 women in the nation honored with the Community Service Award from the American Medical Women's Association. Other recognitions include: the 2001 University of South Florida Distinguished Alumnus Award, USF College of Education Dean's Lifetime Achievement Award, the Distinguished Professional Achievement Award from the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Alumni Chapter, Jewish Women and Family Services Women of Valor Award, American Association of University Women's Women of Achievement Award, United Negro College Fund Distinguished Career in Education Award, United
Community Center Minnie Rogers Community Service and Spirit Award, and life membership in Delta Kappa Gamma, and Phi Delta Kappa. Dr. Jain was a centennial honor initiate of Kappa Delta Sorority and was the 2007 Order of the Pearl recipient for outstanding leadership and prominence at the national, state, and local level.
Dr. Jain's involvement with the community goes beyond her career endeavors. She served on the Governor's Commission on Education, Chair and Executive Board of the Florida Commission on the Status of Women, Founding Member and Chair of Women's History Projects Florida Commission on the Status of Women Foundation, Florida Department of Health Interagency Task Force, Director of the United Nations Association and UNIFEM, President of the American Association of University Women, Founding Member of the Women's Resource Center of Manatee and Sarasota counties, Director of Manatee Human Relations Commission, Founding Member and Chair of the Manatee Commission on the Status of Women, Chair Emerita Women's Equity Celebration in Manatee- Sarasota, Director of Girls Inc., President's Council Life Member of the University of South Florida and numerous others.
In addition to a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Education and Educational Leadership from the University of South Florida in 1984, Jain earned an M.D. from Spartan Health Sciences University School of Medicine, an Ed.S in Administration and Supervision from Nova University, an M.S. in Science Education from Florida State University, a B.Ed in Biological and Health Sciences from Delhi University, and a B.Sc in Biology, Chemistry and History of Sciences from Delhi University at age 18. Manatee and Sarasota Counties have been home to the Jain family for over 50 years.
Born one of 7 siblings, Mona is survived by her brothers, Gurcharan (Santosh) Surjit (Upinder) of New Delhi India and Ujagar of Montreal, Canada. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister, Daljit (Bhupinder) and brothers, Manmohan (Balbir) and Baldev (Narinder). She was happiest surrounded by her loving family, beloved Aunty to many nieces and nephews from all over the world, daughters of the heart Diana Michel, Reema Mathur, Gulzar Allarakhia, Suzanne Ferlita and extended family members and friends.
Spending time with loved ones is what she enjoyed best. Her natural charm, easy laugh and storytelling skills always added a bright spot to the day and gave a reason to smile. Her positive attitude permeated the room. Mona lived her life with courage, strength, compassion, grace, and she taught us the importance of saying "I LOVE YOU" every day, being generous and kind to all people, and giving the best of your God-given talents to help make the world a better place.
In lieu of flowers, Donations may be made to USF Sarasota-Manatee Memorial Scholarship. Https://USF.to/jainscholarship.
