Fallen Dublin Deputy Honored: 'Life Was Good — Until It Wasn't'

DUBLIN, CA — If he were alive today, John Monego would be 55 years old.

He would have watched his son, Dominic, grow up and graduate from high school. He would have seen himself in his son’s dry sense of humor. After spending his career serving the residents of Dublin, he would have celebrated his retirement and had more time to spend with his wife, Tammy, and the rest of his family and friends. He would even have seen his son follow in the footsteps of his wife and pursue a career with the California Highway Patrol.

Sadly, Monego missed those precious milestones and so many more when his life was taken from him more than 22 years ago.

"He was a new dad, extremely happy to be a dad," Tammy Monego said. "Life was good — until it wasn't."

Monego, an Alameda County sheriff's deputy placed in the Dublin Police Department, remains the lone line-of-duty death in the city's police department. He was working overtime when he was ambushed and fatally shot Dec. 11, 1998, while responding to what his partner believed to be a routine 911 hang-up call at the Outback Steakhouse.

Monego was not the first deputy to respond to the scene. His partner and fellow sheriff's deputy Angela Dunakin — who died last fall in a Yuba City car crash — was ambushed by three robbers who took her service weapon, then held her hostage in the back of the restaurant with employees and customers. Three people eventually were arrested on suspicion of robbery and murder, and shooter Reuben Vasquez was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Monego had been in law enforcement for nine years and worked in Dublin for eight months at the time of the attack. He made the ultimate sacrifice serving his beloved community, said Dublin Police Capt. Nate Schmidt.

Each year, Monego is memorialized with a December tree lighting ceremony on the anniversary of his death. Christmas was his favorite time of year, Tammy said.

"It is important that we come together every year to ensure Deputy Monego’s sacrifice and service is never forgotten," Schmidt said in an email.

Monego was born Nov. 5, 1965, in Passaic, New Jersey, to an Italian father and Irish mother, Tammy said. He moved to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1972 before arriving in Pleasanton as an Amador Valley High School freshman in 1979.

He dreamt as a child of becoming a firefighter but went on to serve the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. He maintained strong ties to his Italian heritage as an adult, she said.

He loved his career as a deputy and public service, Tammy said. One of Monego's mentors at the jail nicknamed him "the preacher" because he was compassionate and caring, always counseling inmates and people he met on the street, encouraging them toward a brighter future, she said.

The Monegos met in June 1992 at a Millbrae conference on gang activity, when Tammy said she was a CHP officer in Fresno. He courted her for months, sending doting letters that she still cherishes, and bougainvillea plants and roses of all hues, she said. His friends wondered: Who is this CHP officer who has him so smitten?

By December of that year, they made plans to move in together, she said. In January, they began their lives together.

"We went for it," Tammy said.

The two married, then welcomed son Dominic in 1997. Monego was a devoted family man who maintained close relationships with his in-laws and immediate family. He was a jokester who delighted his nieces and nephews, Tammy said.

He was a skilled deputy at the top of his game when his life was taken, she said.

"His loss was huge, and it was felt because it was so horrendously ... unexpected," Tammy said. "He and I both knew the risks of our job, and we did not let that deter the way we lived our life."

Tammy said she has found it difficult to move on over the years, as court matters related to that tragic December 1998 day remain ongoing. All three of the men serving time for Monego's death have sought an early release from prison.

"I feel it's my job to protect John's legacy for my son," she said. "My son is old enough now to understand his father's sacrifice, but I've wanted to protect him from the pain and hurt that's associated with his father's murder."

It hurts her heart that Monego did not live to see the way his son, now 23 years old, resembles him or quickly rattles off witty retorts the way his father once did.

"I believe that he watches over Dom," Tammy said. "It makes me feel better to think that way."

The holidays are bittersweet in the Monego household.

His family still practices Monego's favorite traditions, such as savoring a buttered Italian panettone cake and bedecking the house in lights. Dominic has even upped the ante on one of his father's favorite pranks: wrapping a small gift for Tammy, such as a piece of jewelry, in an absurdly large box stuffed with bubble wrap and wrapped in an excessive amount of adhesive tape. His son prefers duct tape.

It was Monego's love for Christmas that inspired the city's annual tree lighting ceremony in his honor. A street in Dublin named after Monego reminds everyone of his sacrifice. Tammy said she remains grateful that his memory is not forgotten.

It's especially meaningful since his absence is felt so deeply by their son, who has no memories of his father, she said. Dominic's eyes light up when deputies regale him with stories of his dad.

"It brings him a little bit of solace," she said.

Monego's friend and beat partner James Del Rio remembers him as a charismatic, high-spirited, giving, loyal person who genuinely cared about people.

"We instantly hit it off," Del Rio told Patch.

Friend Rides 3500 Miles Through 9 States For Fallen Dublin Deputy

Del Rio also remembered Monego was a family man who loved to joke around.

"Dominic was so little when this happened 22 years ago," Del Rio said. "To grow up without a father is so hard. It's so tragic, but he turned out to be such a good man."

Del Rio describes Dominic as a chip off the old block who reminds him of his dad. Del Rio said the annual tree lighting is a good reminder of all of the sacrifices law enforcement and their families make.

"It is so special that, all these years later, people are able to remember him," Del Rio said. "Time shouldn't erase those memories."

— Additional reporting by Patch editor Autumn Johnson