MONROE - Jim Munro is happy to have ended his career in education in Monroe - the retired superintendent of the Monroe school district takes part in many volunteer and civic leadership roles and opportunities to make Monroe a better place.

Munro grew up in Superior. He played football and baseball and graduated from Superior Central High School in 1956.

Munro decided to attend Superior State for engineering, although he knew little about the field, and lived at home and commuted to campus. He played football there, starting his freshman year. He also made the basketball team even though he was cut from the high school team; he calls himself a "late bloomer" who measured 6 feet 4 inches by the time college rolled around.

"I loved the competition and camaraderie" of sports, Munro said.

Sports made him realize he wanted a career where he could be involved with people, and he changed his focus to education. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics with a minor in math and physical education in 1960.

His first teaching job was in Hayward as an eighth-grade math and science teacher and high school physics and algebra teacher. Munro also served as the assistant football coach. He began courses right away to earn his graduate degree. He would often carpool to Superior with others to earn graduate credits and it wasn't long before he graduated with his masters degree in December of 1962.

Shortly after, Munro received a job offer from the Northwood School District in Minong where he taught math and did some student counseling. He was on the staff for about a year when he decided to look around for a job where he could be a guidance counselor and football coach.

That spring, the school board terminated the superintendent and in a lucky twist of events, Munro ended up landing the job. He had just married, and the school offered a two-bedroom parsonage, which made the perfect fit.

There were less than 100 people in the high school there, but Munro was proud to start his school administration career at just 25 - at that time, the youngest school superintendent in the state. He decided he needed to spread his wings to a bigger district and accepted a position as Sparta's assistant superintendent in 1966-67.

From there, he landed a job in Bloomer as the superintendent, where he would stay for 15 years.

Once his son graduated from high school and his daughter was of middle-school age, Munro decided it was time for another career move. Monroe seemed the perfect fit, and he was offered a position in 1983.

He served as the superintendent for 14 years before retiring in 1997.

The day Munro was interviewed, officials from Monroe visited Bloomer to check out his background. It was the same day Monroe was voting to see if it would replace two old schools - a measure that was defeated. Munro felt that was his first big job - to figure out what to do with buildings from the 1800s. Eventually, an outside consultant was hired who deemed the buildings to be dangerous fire hazards. A referendum passed that spring, and Munro is proud of what happened with the buildings and expansions while under his wing.

Munro credits his success in Monroe to the strong support he had under him.

"I was surrounded by people who were excellent at their job," he said, noting that almost every principal and assistant principal stayed for the duration of Munro's tenure.

"It gave me an opportunity with an administrative staff to use my educational leadership with those people - who passed it on to students and staff," he said.

Although he didn't continue his coaching career once he was in administration, Munro was proud to serve on the WIAA advisory council for several years in Bloomer. He was appointed to the WIAA advisory committee after coming to Monroe and served nine years. He also served six years on the WIAA Board of Control.

"It was a way for me to have my finger in athletics," he said. "I felt I was a representative for Monroe."

He is proud that during his involvement with the WIAA, he had a hand in creating three divisions so that schools could be matched with similar sizes. Munro is proud that after those decisions, Monroe saw considerable success in athletics.

"It was a very strong interest of mine when I got into school administration," Munro said.

He was also part of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators and was elected president in 1976. He was very active and once he retired, he continued to be involved by becoming president of the retired superintendent association for 15 years, a board that was more informal and social.

Munro also got involved in Blackhawk Technical College and has been an advocate for the technical college system. He says he was always interested in where the kids would go after high school, and he served on an advisory group when BTC was looking to establish a presence in Green County.

Munro was appointed to the Blackhawk Technical College Board, serving the last 10 years of his tenure as superintendent. The group was part of the college's expansion to be more aware of the skill level to enter the job market.

Once retired, Munro left the board for a year, but then got back on and served another 12 years.

"That was very rewarding for me to be involved with Blackhawk Technical College," he said. The board played a role in the Monroe and central campus expansion and part of the airport and North Campus remodeling project. He felt the board responded to the needs of local employers and is proud of BTC's strong health care and welding programs, among others.

Although he's been off the board for a few years, Munro is still serving on the foundation board.

Munro has been married 50 years. He and his wife spend the warmer months at a cottage in northern Wisconsin and invite family up as much as they can. They have two children, a son in the Madison area and a daughter, who is a middle school speech therapist in Monroe. They also enjoy spending time with their 11-year-old granddaughter.

"This has been a great town for us - the school district was excellent," Munro said.

Munro keeps busy the same way he always has - by being involved. He has served with Kiwanis since he lived in Bloomer and has been part of the civic group for about 45 years. Since Kiwanis are strong supporters of youth activities, it was the perfect fit for him.

He also served on the library board for several years.

What he has of free time, he uses to give back where he sees the need. He has done taxes for the elderly at the senior center through an AARP-sponsored program.

Munro is also a Boy Scout supporter and served as the district chairman for 10 years. He leads a spring workday at the Kiwanis Youth Cabin just outside of town. He is still on the advisory committee for the group, and he also serves on the Grace Lutheran Church board.

Munro says he feels fortunate that he and his wife have taken an international trip each year since he retired. They've enjoyed European cruises, visited Branson regularly for the shows and even found his heritage in Scotland - Munro says they've "narrowed down the bucket list" quite a bit. They're currently on a mission to stay overnight in each of the 50 states and have just two remaining.

Coming home to Monroe is always a must, though, and Munro says he stays because it's a town that's big enough to have all of the services needed and a great school system, but yet it's small enough to know neighbors and join clubs and get to know people.

He says in his career aspirations, he never saw himself at a huge district and realized when he came that Monroe would be where he finished.

"When I came I believe I had knowledge that Monroe was good," Munro said. "But after I was here a short time, I felt it was great."