Mona M. Wahba, M.D., age 65 years, of Raritan Township, NJ, died on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at her home, surrounded by her loving family.

September 6, 1957, Mona Youssef arrived into a challenging world, yet she strove for and achieved high success. She was born to Monir Yousef and Isabel Younan. They lived in a small apartment in Cairo, Egypt. She was the first of four children, which made life hard due to the fact that there wasn’t always enough money for the necessities. Mona never really had the chance to live out her childhood because she always found herself helping out with the family. She had taken it upon herself to help in raising her brothers and sister, and to do whatever she could to take the stress off of her parents. From a very young age she was bound to be successful; she was a hard working responsible child. While others were playing with their dolls, she was studying at night with the glow of streetlights.

Her years of hard work and determination led her to high school where she had graduated with honors, as a matter of fact she had strived to be the best and was third in the nation amongst the other graduates in 1975. Mona went on to Ein-Shams Medical School, which was possible through scholarships, and graduated in 1981. Yet again, she proved just how determined she was and graduated with honors.

Mona was still not satisfied with her life. She felt that somewhere out there, there was a better life waiting for her. She wanted a better life not only for herself, but for the children she one day hoped to have. As a woman and a Christian, Mona wanted a life free from the discrimination. To accomplish this, she spent a hard earned $450 and came to the United States of America on the night of December 23, 1983. Upon arrival her husband (Momtaz), who had been here since May of the same year, picked her up at the airport and took her to the apartment she called “hell.”

She knew getting a better life would be challenging, so she endured. Life in Carteret, New Jersey, was miserable. She worked in a hanger factory making close to nothing. It wasn’t long at all before she had thought to herself that life in America was horrible. She wanted desperately to go back, but she didn’t know exactly where she would go. She had separation anxiety from being away from her family, and in a way she was depressed. For a period of time she had regretted not going back.

Not speaking very much English made things much harder. Mona had taken it upon herself to learn English and that is exactly what she did. Within two to three years she had taught herself enough of the language to be able to speak it fluently.

Things began to change in the life of Mona Wahba. On October 6, 1984, she gave birth to her first child, Monica. Shortly after that in August of 1985, she had left the dreaded apartment and moved into an apartment in North Arlington, New Jersey, with her husband and child. At around the same time she had also become an Educational Commission for Foreign Medical graduate after over two years of hard work. In August of 1987, Mona was yet again upgrading her living space. She had moved into a cozy home in Carteret, New Jersey. Almost a year later, on July 20, 1988, Mona gave birth to her second child, Andrew. In another two years she was yet again moving up; Mona and her family of four had moved into a spacious home in Middlesex, New Jersey.

None of this would have been possible if Mona were not so persistent. She had worked in jobs that she didn’t want to discuss due to the emotional distress from 1985 to 1996. These jobs took their toll on Mona but it was not in her to give up. She fought hard against all the turmoil because she knew there was no other way to make life better for her children and family. In 1997, she began a better job with Pfizer Inc. Yet again Mona had to fight a battle since her job was in Groton, Connecticut. She made the sacrifice of leaving her family four days a week just to be able to support them. Nothing would get in the way of her determination. Luckily she was transferred to Pfizer in Manhattan in 2001. Mona continued to advance in her career and held various roles at the Executive level before ultimately starting a successful consulting company of her own.

Though she faced many challenges, it has all been worth it for Mona. She built her dream home in Flemington, NJ, in 2004, which gave her the ability to open her doors for countless family members and friends through the years. She also could not be prouder of her two children. Mona felt the greatest sense of accomplishment seeing Monica graduate with a JD from The George Washington University Law School and Andrew with an MBA from Rutgers University, with both going on to have successful careers of their own.

Mona’s heart grew even larger with the birth of her grandchildren, Olivia and Alex. There was nothing she enjoyed more than spending time with and spoiling them.

It has been a tough road for Mona Wahba. She struggled in life from the day she was born, but she more than achieved her goals that she has set for herself in life. She built the better life for herself and her family that she had prayed for. Her giving was not limited only to her family. She provided support in many forms to many people in need, while never asking for anything in return. For example, she anonymously helped build churches, orphanages, and schools in Egypt.

Life for many immigrants isn’t this successful, but due to Mona’s perseverance, she has lived the American Dream.

Mona will lie in repose on Saturday, September 10, 2022, from 9:00-10:00 a.m. at St. Mary & St. Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Church, 211 US-206, Hillsborough Township, NJ 08844. Kindly follow the instructions of the Wright & Ford Life Celebration Care Team Family Ambassadors upon arrival.

A life celebration service officiated by Fr. Antonious Tanious will take place at 10:00 a.m. at the church and to which all are welcome. As Mona loved life, please do NOT wear black or dark colors but rather dress in bright and cheery colors.

Entombment will follow at Franklin Memorial Park, Chapel of Serenity Mausoleum, 1800 NJ-27, North Brunswick Township, NJ 08902. The family will host a reception at Mona’s home following the interment and again, all are welcome to attend.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

You are encouraged to visit Mona’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

Memorial contributions in her honor and memory may be made to Hands Along the Nile Development Services, Inc., via mail to 535B East Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA 22314, or online by clicking HERE.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”