March 3, 1942 – August 31, 2024
Karen Monley, a remarkable San Franciscan and founding owner of Potrero Hill’s Goat Hill Pizza, died on August 31.
Karen Adelle Monley (neé Hartleben) was born on March 3, 1942, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, to Nile and Francis Hartleben. Karen and her mother were active in the Girl Scouts of America, traveling throughout the region and serving their local community. Karen attended Parkersburg High School and Bethany College, in West Virginia, where she studied mathematics and physics. She was musically talented, performing concert piano and violin in school orchestras, and playing throughout her life.
Karen moved to San Francisco to raise a family and start her career. An Enrolled Actuary, Karen consulted on union benefit plans for the Alaska Teamsters as well as Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers. While performing her actuarial work, Karen founded a restaurant at 18th and Connecticut streets in 1975 with a group of friends: Philip DeAndrade, Joel and Loris Lipski, and Ruthann Dickinson. “Goat Hill Pizza” would become a neighborhood institution, a vibrant gathering place for family and community, for the next half century. Karen brought her actuarial experience and business acumen to the venture and led it through tough economic times.
In the late-1970s, Karen met and fell in love with Michael Monley, a public-school teacher and union leader, who became her husband of 46 years. Together they explored the world, travelling with friends. Karen was a lively, curious, intelligent, and warm-hearted woman who loved her family more than anything else. She maintained deep, lifelong friendships, and was loving and generous with her large extended family.
Karen pursued many challenging avocations: women’s competitive whale boat rowing, Tai Chi, racquetball and tennis, swimming, water aerobics, Sudoku, crossword puzzles and bridge. She regularly worked her way through the Sunday New York Times. Outside of soaking up the sun on her Glen Park home’s back porch, or walking Willie, the world’s smartest dog, her favorite place was in the foothills of Calaveras County, nurturing her tomatoes.
Karen Monley died of complications from COPD in San Francisco. She was 82 years old. She’s survived by husband, Michael; brother David; daughter Dr. Beth Ellen Clark Joseph, son-in-law Jonathan Joseph, granddaughters Lily Elana Xiao-Qi Joseph and Chloe Eloise Li-Yun Joseph; and son David Homer Clark. She leaves 12 in-laws who loved her dearly, and more than 50 nieces and nephews.
Michael wishes to thank Karen’s friends and caregivers at the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living, the Frank Residences, University of California Medical Center, and the Goat Hill Pizza community. A memorial service will be held later this year.
Rebekah Moan