Malcolm Monroe Memorial

Malcolm Lancaster “Mac” Monroe Memorial Website

If you’d like to view the service from October 20th, you can do so at this link.

Malcolm Lancaster “Mac” Monroe passed away September 21, 2024 at the age of 87, from natural causes.

Mac was born April 19, 1937 in Rogers City, Michigan to Nola and Donald Monroe.  In his youth, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, and was a voracious reader.  He had one younger sister, Donna Lou Ritter, who preceded him in death in 2021.

During his early adulthood, he served as a merchant mariner on the Great Lakes, following the example of his father, who was a limestone freighter captain. He attended the University of Michigan, where, amongst other things, he worked on experimental aircraft and enjoyed skydiving.  He left the university shortly before graduating, to take a job with RCA in the nascent aerospace industry.

Mac’s career was spent as a cold-warrior, collecting and analyzing telemetry of missile launches both on land and at sea.  He was proud of the time he spent on the USNS Vandenberg (T-AGM-10), and then later on the USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23) missile range instrumentation ship, where he participated in the Cobra Judy missions to monitor international ballistic missile tests in the Pacific, and ensure compliance with strategic arms treaties.  Later, he would become the site manager for Nichols Research Corporation at the Innovative Science and Technology Experimentation Facility (ISTEF), which used advanced laser systems to collect data about launches both offsite, and at Cape Canaveral.  He retired in April of 2005.

Mac was an avid fan of beer and home brewing, a certified beer judge, and a member of the Central Florida Home Brewers and the Alliance of Sommeliers in Orlando, Florida.  He was well known throughout the central Florida wine and beer communities for his encyclopedic knowledge of brewing, vinting and tasting.  He was passionate about classical music, and supported the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, and the Melbourne Chamber Music Society as a long-time season ticket holder.

Mac married Christine Pizczeck Monroe in September of 1974, and they remained married until her death in March of 2020.  Together, they had four children, Ian Donald Monroe, Douglas Andrew Monroe, Morgan Campbell Monroe, and Arden Leigh Monroe-Obermeit. He had one grandson, Nolan Monroe Obermeit.  He is survived by his children, grandchild, and innumerable friends around the United States and abroad.

The family wishes to extend an invitation to join them in celebrating Mac’s life on Sunday, October 20, 2024 at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront, 1665 N. Stateroute A1A, Melbourne, FL 32903, from noon until 3:30 PM.  A toast will follow at one of Mac’s favorite places, Coasters Pub and Biergarten, at 971 E. Eau Gallie Blvd, Melbourne FL, 32937.  In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to your favorite charity in his memory.

Please feel free to leave a comment below.

11 responses to “Malcolm Lancaster “Mac” Monroe Memorial Website”

  1. imonroe

    Please feel free to leave a memory or comment here.

    Reply
  2. Judi Wallace

    Mac was a true gentleman, and a great human! I served with him on the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Sommeliers for many years. He was a gift to that organization and to the Board. I am sorry that I will not be able to join on the 20th, but I will raise a glass in his honor. May he find smooth seas and eternal peace. And some really good beers,

    Reply
  3. Preston Hoover

    I met Mac at one of the Central Florida Home Brewers meetings at Rossi’s Pizza. I told him I was a submariner and some of my duty stations. Through talking we realized that while he was in a ship above monitoring missile launches, and my submarine the USS Pintado SSN 672, was below doing the same thing! What a coincidence!! Mac loved telling stories about his time on the ships and other missile adventures. His love of beer and beer judging was areal and he loved teaching and sharing his knowledge with me and others. You could hand him a glass of beer, and he would stand there and judge it. A true aficionado. Mac was a dear friend and beer mentor to me and I will never forget him.

    Reply
  4. Robert J. Bennett, MSgt USAF Ret. BJCP Recognized Beer Judge A0378

    It was a great pleasure and privilege to have met and learned from him. He was a founder of the Space Coast Associates for the Advancement of Zymugy (SAAZ), and taught in many classes for home brewers wishing to become Beer Judges. He also provided a small group of curious SAAZ members knowledge and experience in the delightful intricacies of Scotch Whisky.

    Reply
  5. Carol Oakley

    Having moved from the Monroe Family Home town of Rogers City Michigan at the young age of 5, I missed growing up with my cousins but as a child I always enjoyed our summer visits to the homes of my aunts and uncles in Rogers City and my grandmother in Alpena. Later in life there was an occasional visit to Florida and a chance to catch up on family matters and life in general which was good because by that time I was no longer the pest, the younger cousin (second youngest of the Monroe family clan) that they were forced to drag along.
    I was, however, and still am, a total mystery and enigma to Mac, the connoisseur of great beer and fine wine who would just cringe when he would watch me add ice to my canned light beer, and that is probably how I will drink it on the 20th also, Sorry Cuz. I’ll miss our very seldom visits but am sure I will see you again soon. Carol

    Reply
  6. Doris Saxet

    Ah Mac’s Celebration of Life …truer words never spoken…Mac was a brainiac with the hugest heart. His way with words, intelligence, wit, never ceased to enthrall me. One of my favorite people on this planet to talk/listen to…I’ve shared his ‘all my kids are for sale up until 18’, and then he’d say after that, parenthood is an 18 to life sentence…🤣🥰he made me feel smarter just being in his presence…a hui ho my dear friend…you’re a life treasure…

    Reply
  7. Dave @ Coasters

    Coasters Pub will miss Mac! He was a friend to the staff and anybody that sat next to him at the bar.
    And I just found the link to a vlog that we did in 2016 to kick off our Belgian Beer Fest. Mac stole the show!
    https://youtu.be/7_nEEr07y-M?si=67LqxvnpGmi-TlSD&t=28

    Reply
  8. Ken Morris

    We first met Mac in Coasters while he and others were stumped on a question on English history, we were able to assist and became friends from that day. Every year we would meet in Coasters while on holiday and would swap stories. He even got me to be a judge at a local beer festival and join the formalities afterwards (food and more beer!). Unfortunately we were unable to carry on with our annual visits to Florida, but we still kept in contact. Will miss a good friend. Gone but not forgotten. Ken and Kate. Devon, England.

    Reply
  9. Chris Chubb

    Mac was one of my favorite people in the whole world to spend time with. A true Renaissance man with a heart of gold, a real rocket scientist brain, and the sense of fun of a child, Mac never failed to teach me something, entertain everyone around him and bring joy wherever he went. We overlapped on many shared interests and he introduced me to a couple more. I knew that no matter where Mac would be, I would try to be there too, just to soak up some of his charm and bonhomie.

    A bigger than life Falstaff, Mac, like the goodly knight that he was, was always ready to mount his steed in defense of his country, ready with a toast or a quip, ready for adventure or to slow down and appreciate good music, good food, good drink and good fellowship. I never saw Mac shirk a chore, fail to volunteer when needed, even to be the butt of a joke if that was what the moment demanded. When the Mac Daddy walked into the room, his laugh at himself would drown those of everyone else.

    Farewell, old sailor. I wish you fair winds and following seas in your next voyage. The world will be a smaller place without you in it.

    Reply
  10. Nan

    When memory goes beyond 86 years and here’s no time when Mac wasn’t in it, that makes us “Old Friends.”. He was my best brother not related. Sunday school with Aunt Beth. K through 12… becalmed on Lake Huron in that dinky sailboat… flying in his dad’s plane to Straits of Mackinac… just hanging out… even a family get-together in Melbourne when Ian was a baby. Class reunions always meant catch up time, but it was like no time had passed. Sorry I didn’t call more often these later years. We last talked in May. Miss you already. Safe journey, Old Friend… Love you.

    Reply
  11. Jeff Ritter

    Mac was my mother’s big brother, famous in our house for reading the entire encyclopedia when he was young. I was always a little suspicious that the only reason we owned an encyclopedia was so that my mother could see if my brother or I might be inclined to match the achievement. I have dim, noisy memories of childhood visits to Florida and Alabama: driving my aunt crazy with my insistence that fish was edible only as a breaded stick, chasing my (then still-diapered) cousins around not-yet-unpacked moving boxes full of magazines, marveling at Miss Baker the space monkey at the Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. When I was in high school, Mac paid us a solo visit in Michigan, sleeping on our sofa bed in between trips out to our local brewers (if memory serves, he was particularly interested in acquainting himself with a stout from Bell’s at the time). That must’ve been 1987, because the Toshiba tape deck in my room earned me a quick briefing on Toshiba’s illicit role in advancing Soviet submarine technology. I’m very grateful that Douglas was able to drive him up to Michigan for my mother’s memorial service, and I regret that I wasn’t able to make it to this gathering in his memory. Condolences to all my cousins (and, of course, Nolan).

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *