I checked a couple of online sites looking for key residents of the city of Monroe over the years. Monroe's Wikipedia page lists a number of "notable people" who at one time lived in Monroe.
Ken Behring, 89, was born in Freeport in 1928, but his family moved to Monroe when he turned 4.
While Behring came of age during the Great Depression and World War II, he was an entrepreneur, and in the 1950 he amassed a $1 million fortune selling cars locally. That was just the tip of the iceberg for Behring, who switched gears into construction in Florida and became one of the biggest housing developers in the United States.
Behring is on the list of Monroe's notable residents, because he at one time (in the 1990s) was co-owner of the Seattle Seahawks. Behring has become more widely known for his philanthropy. Behring has pledged, over time, more than $100 million to the Smithsonian Institute. His 2000 pledge of $80 million toward the National Museum of American History, at the time, was considered the largest cash donation to a museum by a living person.
Behring has led an interesting life that has not been without some controversy. He has penned a memoir "The Road to Leadership: Finding a Life of Purpose," which was originally printed in 2004 and reprinted in 2013.
It's not possible to tell the story of all of Monroe's "notable people." On the list are a good number of general staff officers of the United States military dating to the Civil War.
Some people who were born in Monroe, such as Evelene Brodstone, lived here just a short period of time. Brodstone was born in Monroe in 1875 and lived here three years until her immigrant Norwegian parents moved her and her older brother, Lewis, to Nebraska.
Evelene Brodstone enrolled in Elliot's Business College in Burlington, Iowa. She later went to Chicago to engage in business, and she became noticed by Edmund Vestey of Vestey Brothers of Liverpool, England. She became the personal stenographer of Vestey and such was her value in business that she eventually became the firm's traveling auditor.
Brodstone was afforded travel often unheard of to a business woman through the Vestey Brothers, and she visited the interior of China, Venezuela, Russia and Australia.
Her story is full of intrigue.
When the manager of a Vestey plant in South Africa stole the company's funds, Brodstone chased him around the globe, eventually catching him.
In 1922, Brodstone married William Vestey, who was a Baron in the British nobility. Brodstone became "Lady Vestey."
Brodstone isn't remembered due to her royal title but instead her impressive role as a businesswoman in the 1920s.
Monroe's list of notables includes other business people, state and national politicians, writers, intellectuals and, of course, athletes.
Monroe has given much to the arts, including being the birthplace of noted Jazz drummer Joe Dodge, who was among the most talented jazz percussionists of the 1950s.
Dodge, at the height of his success with the Dave Brubeck Quartet in the mid-1950s, was worn down by the travel and schedule of the band and left the group to get a day job and spend more time with his family.
Also on the notable list is Dick Campbell, a music writer and singer, who was engaged by Mercury Records in the 1960s to make an album that would compete directly with Bob Dylan.
Mercury, in 1966, produced "Dick Campbell Sings Where it's At," which is rated as "the masterpiece of the fake-Dylan field," according to Gene Sculatti of Scram Magazine in 2011.
Campbell had a music career from 1960 until his death in 2004. He was both a performer and a composer.
The album "Dick Campbell Sings Where it's At," has never been produced as a compact disk. The full album, however, can be heard online on various websites and YouTube. Campbell wrote all the Dylan-like lyrics and some of it's pretty interesting.
Monroe has plenty of notable residents not so easy to find on the internet. And among the most notable are those who stayed in Monroe and made it a better place for all living here today.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
Ken Behring, 89, was born in Freeport in 1928, but his family moved to Monroe when he turned 4.
While Behring came of age during the Great Depression and World War II, he was an entrepreneur, and in the 1950 he amassed a $1 million fortune selling cars locally. That was just the tip of the iceberg for Behring, who switched gears into construction in Florida and became one of the biggest housing developers in the United States.
Behring is on the list of Monroe's notable residents, because he at one time (in the 1990s) was co-owner of the Seattle Seahawks. Behring has become more widely known for his philanthropy. Behring has pledged, over time, more than $100 million to the Smithsonian Institute. His 2000 pledge of $80 million toward the National Museum of American History, at the time, was considered the largest cash donation to a museum by a living person.
Behring has led an interesting life that has not been without some controversy. He has penned a memoir "The Road to Leadership: Finding a Life of Purpose," which was originally printed in 2004 and reprinted in 2013.
It's not possible to tell the story of all of Monroe's "notable people." On the list are a good number of general staff officers of the United States military dating to the Civil War.
Some people who were born in Monroe, such as Evelene Brodstone, lived here just a short period of time. Brodstone was born in Monroe in 1875 and lived here three years until her immigrant Norwegian parents moved her and her older brother, Lewis, to Nebraska.
Evelene Brodstone enrolled in Elliot's Business College in Burlington, Iowa. She later went to Chicago to engage in business, and she became noticed by Edmund Vestey of Vestey Brothers of Liverpool, England. She became the personal stenographer of Vestey and such was her value in business that she eventually became the firm's traveling auditor.
Brodstone was afforded travel often unheard of to a business woman through the Vestey Brothers, and she visited the interior of China, Venezuela, Russia and Australia.
Her story is full of intrigue.
When the manager of a Vestey plant in South Africa stole the company's funds, Brodstone chased him around the globe, eventually catching him.
In 1922, Brodstone married William Vestey, who was a Baron in the British nobility. Brodstone became "Lady Vestey."
Brodstone isn't remembered due to her royal title but instead her impressive role as a businesswoman in the 1920s.
Monroe's list of notables includes other business people, state and national politicians, writers, intellectuals and, of course, athletes.
Monroe has given much to the arts, including being the birthplace of noted Jazz drummer Joe Dodge, who was among the most talented jazz percussionists of the 1950s.
Dodge, at the height of his success with the Dave Brubeck Quartet in the mid-1950s, was worn down by the travel and schedule of the band and left the group to get a day job and spend more time with his family.
Also on the notable list is Dick Campbell, a music writer and singer, who was engaged by Mercury Records in the 1960s to make an album that would compete directly with Bob Dylan.
Mercury, in 1966, produced "Dick Campbell Sings Where it's At," which is rated as "the masterpiece of the fake-Dylan field," according to Gene Sculatti of Scram Magazine in 2011.
Campbell had a music career from 1960 until his death in 2004. He was both a performer and a composer.
The album "Dick Campbell Sings Where it's At," has never been produced as a compact disk. The full album, however, can be heard online on various websites and YouTube. Campbell wrote all the Dylan-like lyrics and some of it's pretty interesting.
Monroe has plenty of notable residents not so easy to find on the internet. And among the most notable are those who stayed in Monroe and made it a better place for all living here today.
- Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
