JOHN C. MONROE (1955-56) #66As part of #KCParks125, we are featuring all Park Board Commissioners in order of their service.John Clayton Monroe, Jr. (1923 – 1996) was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended Northeast High School and the University of Kansas, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in architecture.Mr. Monroe served in the Marine Corps in World War II as a sergeant in the Pacific. He also participated in the Korean War. He married Leona Wallenmeyer in 1952.In 1954, Mr. Monroe joined with architect Gene Lefebvre to create Monroe and then Lefebvre Architects, Inc. It became one of Kansas City’s best known architectural firms. Mr. Monroe became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1979. His company helped spur early interest in the redevelopment of the Quality Hill area when it renovated a home built in 1868 by Major William Warner at 1021 Pennsylvania as an office for their architectural firm beginning in the mid-1960s. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1952, he joined the Citizens Association, a group of Democratic supporters who saw themselves as an independent group that opposed the “machine” element of the Democratic Party. He worked with the Citizens Association for several years.Mr. Monroe was appointed to the Park Board in May 1955 by Mayor H. Roe Bartle. He was also appointed to the city’s public recreation advisory board. He resigned from the Park Board in May 1956. He continued on the city’s recreation advisory board for a few more years. In 1960 his recreation advisory board committee recommended the joining of the recreation division of the city’s Welfare Department with the Park Department to create a park and recreation department. This happened a few years later in late 1966, with an official transfer date of January 1, 1967.Mr. Moore and his family moved to Kansas City North in Clay County where he became a vocal proponent of the development of parks north of the river. He was appointed to the first Clay County park and recreation board in 1965. He was chairman of the Board from 1971 until his resignation in 1982. Continued on @KCMOParks Facebook page