CASA Spotlight: Mona Roth
Her traditional upbringing as the daughter of a shoe company executive could have consigned Mona Roth to a dull career.
Instead, she became St. Louis’ first female disc jockey—then a dance instructor and finally a sales executive with her own company—all while raising two daughters.
Right out of high school, Mona did take the conservative route by attending Miss Hickey’s College and becoming an administrative assistant. But this native of Toledo, Ohio, who grew up in University City, MO, quickly moved on to more daring assignments. “I became the area’s first female disc jockey, working nights at a place call The Distillery,” Mona recalled.
There she did more than spin discs for the crowds. “You had to know how to make money for the house,” Mona said. “You had to get the guys up dancing and the drinks moving.” From there, she went on to work for an all-female disc jockey placement agency, DJing private events, and after that she taught Disco dance lessons.
“But I got tired of leading men across a dance floor and decided I should get a real job,” she said. “My daughters were older so I could work during the day so I became an administrative assistant at a computer supplies company. The owner almost immediately put me into sales, telling me I had the people skills to sell anything. My daughters call me the ‘Master Manipulator.’”
She left that job in 1981 and with a partner, formed her own company providing duplicating supplies to businesses across the globe and running a successful venture that employed 50 people.
“Then my first grandchild was born, and I moved from part-time and soon after that to retirement, selling out to my partner and leaving the business I helped build over 20 years,” she said.
Mona enjoyed her grandchildren (now she has four), and she traveled the world (her youngest daughter is a pharmaceutical executive in Dubai). Mona also began to volunteer. “I am a diabetic so for the American Diabetes Association St. Louis, I served as a board member and ran the Step Out Walk fundraiser. But I found I wanted something more one-on-one than participating on boards.”
In 2012, Mona received a solicitation from CASA-St. Louis. “I had never heard of CASA but I looked up the organization and then called them, telling them that I could offer something better than money,” she recalled, laughing. “Me!”
CaSSandra Grinston, Senior Case Advocacy Supervisor for CASA, agrees that was a good trade. “Mona is one of the most loving, most giving people I know. She is very smart, very caring and very upfront—you never have to worry about what Mona’s thinking,” CaSSandra said. “She cares deeply about the children she advocates for. There’s nothing she would not do to help them, and she stays in contact with these young people long after their cases have been resolved.”
The admiration is mutual. “CaSSandra is a real pro—she knows so much about the process and gives me great advice,” Mona said.
CaSSandra holds a master’s degree in human resources development and has been with CASA of St. Louis for more than three years. She came to CASA with 17 years’ experience working for the State of Missouri, Division of Family Services. CaSSandra started with the state in St. Louis City as a case manager and worked in many capacities, including responding to hotline calls.
In her current role, CaSSandra supports over 20 CASA volunteers, helping them navigate through a system that involves fully researching the child’s family background and discussing each case with the child’s team. The team often consists of the Deputy Juvenile Officer, Children’s Division case manager, therapist and the child’s attorney who serves as guardian ad litem. CaSSandra is also the advocate for more than a dozen children in the court system.
In her eight years as a volunteer, Mona has advocated for six children connected to five cases.
One of the most memorable was her first: “It involved a 5-year-old child who attended a swimming party with her mother and her 3-year-old brother at a house in an affluent West County neighborhood,” she said. “The 3-year-old was in the pool with water wings when the mother went into the house to get high. The little boy went back into the water and drowned, and the little girl was removed from her mother’s custody. It took a long time and a lot of work on the mother’s part to get off drugs and get her daughter back.” Mona was there for the child as she moved into a foster home and then was returned by the court to her mother.
“They are doing great,” Mona said. “I still check in with the little girl who is around 13 now.”
Another case also involved drugs. “one day when their grandparents were away, two sisters witnessed their father blowing up the house when he was cooking methamphetamine. The father went to jail, and his parents were implicated because he was running a meth lab in their garage. The grandparents were not allowed to see their granddaughters for a year. Initially when I called the grandmother, she blew me off, but over time, we became much more cordial. Eventually, the girls were placed with the grandparents through the State of Missouri. Mona advocated for one of the girls whom needed surgery by calling doctors and made sure it was paid for through Medicaid. The girls are 20 and 16 now, and doing okay.” Thanks to Mona, said CaSSandra.
Mona Roth jokes that her parents had a sense of humor—“they named me Mona and my younger sister Lisa!” They were not far from the mark—Mona is priceless.