MONROE, WILLIAM T. (May 18, 1926 - November 23, 2015) practiced law for sixty years, serving as the Law Director for the City of Euclid and donating legal work for 35 years to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, a Catholic diocesan missionary initiative.
Born on Cleveland’s East Side in 1926, he was the only child of William Monroe Sr. and Margaret (Hegarty) Monroe. After attending ST. IGNATIUS HIGH SCHOOL, he joined the US Navy in 1944 when he was 18. Taking advantage of the “G.I. Bill” after the war, he subsequently graduated from JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY. He attended CLEVELAND-MARSHALL LAW SCHOOL and was admitted to the bar in 1954. The partners in the firm he founded, Monroe & Zucco, included thirteen-term US Congressman CHARLES VANIK.
Balancing the practice of law with governmental service, he was a member of the Ohio State Board of Education from 1959-1964. From 1964-1971, he served as Law Director for the City of EUCLID and as acting Euclid Municipal Judge from 1971-1986.
In addition to donating legal work in support of the missionary efforts of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, “Bill” Monroe prepared wills for terminally ill patients at the HOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE. A son of Irish immigrants, he was president of the Greater Cleveland chapter of the Irish American Cultural Institute. He received the 2002 WALKS OF LIFE AWARD from the Irish American Archives Society. Also in 2002, St. Ignatius High School recognized him with its Bellarmine Award for excellence in the legal field.
Monroe was married to Patricia (Gibbons) Monroe and had four children: Thomas, Robert, Michael, and John. He passed away in 2015 and is buried in All Souls Cemetery in Chardon, OH.
Daniel Brennan and David Patrick Ryan