Berry Bryant Monroe ’46

Berry Bryant Monroe ’46, 86, died March 15, 2012, at McLeod Regional Medical Center, Florence, S.C., after an illness. Monroe was born in Laurinburg, the oldest child of the late Robert Andrews Monroe and Berrie Bryant Monroe. He graduated high school at the age of 15, attended Davidson and the UNC Chapel Hill, and earned his medical degree from Duke University in 1946. He served his country in the U.S. Marine Corps as a medic from 1946-52, during the Korean War. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his service. He married Susan Godfrey on April 12, 1952, in Baltimore, Md., and completed his pediatric residency in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1956 at Children’s Hospital. He was offered several pediatric positions, but chose to live and work in Florence, S.C., and in 1957, he opened his practice on Palmetto Street in an old house. He opened his last practice with his partner, Dr. Charles Waters, on Dargan Street in 1971, which served patients for 19 years. He retired from private practice in 1997, at age 72. Monroe served as chief of pediatrics at McLeod Regional Medical Center. He continued to practice medicine, volunteering at Mercy Medicine Clinic for many years. He was a member of the South Carolina Medical Association, and member and past president of the Florence Medical Association. Monroe was a faithful member of First Presbyterian Church in Florence, where he served as a deacon. He was also a member of the Golden K Kiwanis Club and formerly a member of the Sertoma Club. He was preceded in death by his wife, Susan G. Monroe, in 2002; daughter, Mary Kathleen Monroe Coenen; brother, Robert; and sister, Flora. He is survived by a daughter, Linda Monroe Neyle; two sons, Berry Bryant Monroe, Jr. and Christian Andrew Monroe, 1315 Madison Ave., Florence, SC 29501; brother, Edwin Wall Monroe ’47; and three grandchildren, Emilie Neyle Jeter, Edmund Gregorie Neyle ’09, and Charlotte Willson Neyle.