Eddie Montanucci listens as St. Gall Father Father Biju Malancheruvil blesses the monument to Fallon Montanucci on Dec. 3.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
On Dec. 14, Eastside Memorial Park and Garden Cemetery are participating in Wreaths Across America, where the graves of veterans are decorated.
Among the roughly 600 veterans, whose final resting places will be adorned with a wreath, is that of Airman 1st Class Fallon Montanucci, who would have turned 25 on Dec. 3.
In observation of her birthday, a small group, including her father, gathered to dedicate a memorial at the site of her death on Highway 395 and to celebrate her life.
The concrete memorial was built by Avery Chesser and his crew on land donated by former Sen. James Settelmeyer. It stands with a flag off Highway 395 north of Johnson Lane near where she died.
On Tuesday, St. Gall Father Biju Malancheruvil blessed the monument as members of the church prayed. Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley and Undersheriff Ron Elges attended the ceremony along with a score of others.
Retired St. Gall Secretary Rocky Barth read the eulogy for Montanucci as her father, Eddie, and others listened.
“Few 22-year-olds accomplished what Fallon did in her abbreviated life,” Barth said. “Higher education was at the cutting edge of Fallon’s goals following her graduation from Douglas High School — and this career path wasn’t something she wanted just for herself. She was determined to earn a Ph.D. in psychology and do what came naturally — help others discover their inner strengths.”
Montanucci was home on leave from the U.S. Air Force when she was killed in an April 23, 2022, collision with a wrong-way drunken driver that severely injured her sister Avalon.
A 2018 graduate of Douglas High School, Montanucci was a member of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Explorers. She graduated with an associate’s degree in 2020 before she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.
After training she was assigned to the Malstrom Air Force Base security detail where she guarded America’s nuclear arsenal.
While in the Air Force she pursued a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She was set to graduate from Southern New Hampshire University in a few weeks when she was killed. Barth said her parents received her diploma. Barth also thanked Carson Valley Signs.
A scholarship has been established at Western Nevada College in Montanucci’s name.
