Monica Stockdale: Aged-care resident allegedly murdered by Jacob Hoysted was the ‘whole package’

70-year-old Monica Stockdale’s life was tragically cut short on November 28, 2022, when she was allegedly strangled to death by 19-year-old Jacob Hoysted. Ms Stockdale was a permanent resident at Baptistcare Bethel in Albany where the incident took place. Speaking to the Advertiser, son Graeme Stockdale praised the much-loved mother, grandmother and sister who was a fixture of the Albany community. “She was just a lovely woman, she always made sure we were sorted out, we weren’t rich by any means but she made sure we had what we needed,” Mr Stockdale said. “She’d do anything for us, whatever it took.” Early life Born in Katanning in 1952 to parents Josef and Rosina Trocinski, Monica Mary Stockdale was the second of three children with older sister Chris and younger brother Henric. Her family relocated to Albany where Ms Stockdale attended primary school at St Joseph’s, catching the bus into town every day from the family’s home in Gledhow. The family eventually moved back into town, where Ms Stockdale attended Albany Senior High School before leaving at the end of Year 10 to work at Foy Gibson on the corner of York Street and Serpentine Road. A hard-working single mum In her early 20s, Ms Stockdale met Barry Stockdale and had three sons, Graeme, Bradley and Matthew. Ms Stockdale would go on to bring up her three boys as a single mum. “In those early days, she was just everything. She was the mother, the father, the breadwinner, she was the sports coach, the enforcer of rules — she was the whole package,” Mr Stockdale said. In a statement read at Ms Stockdale’s memorial service on Friday, December 30, Ms Stockdale’s grandson Seb Stockdale said she tackled the challenge of being a single mother “like a champ”. While her children were teenagers, Ms Stockdale started working at the local Woolworths where she would remain for the rest of her working life. “She loved that, she always loved hanging out with people, it just suited her to a tee,” Mr Stockdale said. “She didn’t care what the job was, she just liked the fact that she got interaction with people.” Many will remember Ms Stockdale during her time there as an always friendly presence, sharing a laugh with customers and telling them the best bargains of the day. “The woman loved a good bargain. She was never coming home from work without a bloody reduced-to-quick-sale bin item, even if she didn’t know what it was,” Mr Stockdale said. On weekends, Ms Stockdale could often be found coaching one of the various sports her sons were taking part in, particularly tee ball on a Saturday morning. A happy life When asked about his mother’s achievements, Graeme Stockdale said: “I would say her major achievement was just being in love with life and you didn’t need to have heaps of money to do that.” “We used to be embarrassed by her laugh when we were children because she was always laughing, it was a very full-bodied laugh too, didn’t matter where you were, you could hear her from half a kilometre away — it wasn’t until I got older that I thought ‘this is cool, she’s just a happy woman’,” Mr Stockdale said. Seb Stockdale described his grandmother as “the type of person who had the ability to make everyone happy whether it was sad to happy or happy to even happier”. “She is a one-of-a-kind person so I will cherish every amazing moment I made with her over the years.” Final years Ms Stockdale sadly developed early onset dementia about five years ago, not long after retiring. She moved into permanent care at Baptistcare Bethel where she remained until her death on November 28. The restrictions placed on the care home by the pandemic meant that Ms Stockdale was prevented from enjoying her favourite pastimes — spending time outdoors, enjoying the company of dogs and walking. “It’s not the happiest time of her life, especially with the last couple of years of COVID, she couldn’t get out to walk anymore,” Mr Stockdale said. “She died in a way that nobody should have to, as you all know, so all we can do now is pray that she is now at peace, back with her much loved mother,” celebrant Jan Biglin said, speaking at her memorial. Ms Stockdale is survived by her three children and two grandchildren. Her memory will live on through the people she loved with unfailing generosity and kindness.