William Menoher – Colonel, United States Army

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Son of Major General Charles T. Menoher, William Menoher was born at Columbus, Ohio, 31 August 1910.  He entered the United States Military Academy in 1928 and graduated in 1932 in the top ten-percent of his class.  His brother, Darrow Menoher, also graduated from West Point.

His initial service was in the Artillary Corps for three years, but he then switched to the Ordnance branch in which he remained for the rest of military career. He received a Master’s Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and did World War II service in Hawaii and the Philippines.

He was assigned to Washington, D.C. at the Pentagon after the war until 1947.  He was then Executive Officer (Lieutenant Colonel) at the Ogden (Utah) Arsenal where he was promoted to full Colonel at the same time he became the Commanding Officer.  He remained there there until 1950, when he transferred to Denmark to become head of the Military Assistance Group there.

He returned to the United States in 1953 and was Commanding Officer at Wingate Ordnance Depot, New Mexico, from 1953 to October 1954. His final assignment was at the Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana, as Commanding Officer until his retirement in June 1955.

More than a fair baseball player at West Point, he was described as extremely intelligent and with a sharp sense of humor.  He believed strongly in honor and responsibility throughout his life.

He never did adjust well to civilian life – he much preferred the structured existance he’d known all his life. He continued to keep close ties with his 1932 West Point classmates until his death in November 1978.

Submitted by his loving daughter, Kathy Matthews:

I was able to find a copy of the Assembly that had Dad’s obit. Below is what he wrote about himself.  I figured it might add something to what my brother has already sent you. Thank you so much for your interest in an old Army man.  Kathy

“Writing this is not easy.  Though for anyone else, I imagine it would be harder.  I was born at Columbus Barracks (since, Fort Hayes), Ohio, the  youngest of four sons, to (later) Major General Charles T. (United States  Military Academy Class of 1886) and Nannie Pearson Menoher. The brothers  were, Charles C. Pearson (United States Military Academy class of 1915), and Darrow (Ex-cadet United States Military Academy Class of November 1918).

There follwed a usual Army brat itinerary: the Philippines, Hawaii,  Myer, Bliss, Washington, Huachuca, Washington again, Hawaii, the Presidio of San Fransisco and back to Washington.  Then Schadmann’s, as thorough  preparation for the rigors of Beast Barracks and “K” company.

Upon graduation, the Field Artillery provided the traveler: Hoyle, Civilian Conservation Corps, Stotsenburg and Sill.  A switch to Ordinance there added Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Aberdeen, Washington, the Central and Southwest Pacific Areas, and (guess where?) Washington.  Next,  it was Ogden Arsenal, Denmark, Wingate Ordinance Deport, Jefferson Proving Ground and retirement–to view the civilian world.  Milestones along the way were Susan Owens (another Army brat) who with Charles (Ex-cadet United States Military Academy Class of 1964), Susan and Katherine joined the caravan.

During the next ten years in (you guessed it) Washington, New York, and Florida, there were roadblocks in industry, teaching and a small business.  Finally, in 1966, the way opened for an environmental engineer with the State of Florida; then, finally, retirement in 1972.

The trip has been varied and mostly satisfying.  I’d take it again.
The Corps!
Bill

William MENOHER 

  • 31 August 1910 – 23 October 1978
  • BIRTH: 31 August 1910, Columbus, Ohio
  • DEATH: 23 October 1978, Florida

COLONEL WILLIAM MENOHER (CHARLES THOMAS, SAMUEL M., CHARLES (SON OF JOHN, JR.) MENOHER, JOHN MENOHER, JR., JOHN) was born August 31, 1910 in Columbus, Ohio, and died October 24, 1978 in Merrit Island, Florida. He married GLADYS SPRAGUE KNOX. He married SUSAN ELIZABETH OWENS. Children of WILLIAM MENOHER and GLADYS KNOX are: CHARLES “CHUCK” (NMI) MENOHER, SUSAN MENOHER, Child of WILLIAM MENOHER and SUSAN OWENS is: KATHERINE MENOHER.

The son of Major General Charles Thomas Menoher.

Menopher was devoted military spouse, mom
July 11,2005
Anne Clark
Staff writer
Kathy Matthews remembers sitting on the bed as a little girl and watching her mother get ready to go out. Married to an Army Colonel, Susan Menoher was probably headed to a party with other military couples.

While at her vanity table’s tilting mirror, Susan would dab on White Shoulders perfume and brush her bobbed brunette hair. Then she’d slip into a pale taffeta dress and pull on spiked heels, and ask Kathy to choose her jewelry for the night. Kathy knew that her mother’s favorite was the $20 gold piece hanging from a gold chain. Susan’s mother had given her the coin as a graduation present.

Stylish and vivacious, Susan made a good officer’s wife.

“She was always a fashion plate,” Kathy said. “She always looked finished.”

Susan Elizabeth Owens Menoher died June 18 from complications of a fall. She was 94.

Born to a U.S. soldier and his wife in Manila, Philippines, Susan had good training for a life in the military. Her father’s career had his wife and children moving every few years, even as the family grew with three more children.

It was through the military that Susan met her first husband, Darrow Menoher, whose father was the first commander of the U.S. Air Service. Susan and Darrow married in 1933.

“He spoiled her,” Kathy said, “and spent money on the next fun thing to do.”

The couple lived happily in Colorado until Darrow’s untimely death from a cerebral aneurysm in 1943.

It was a few years later that Darrow’s younger brother William divorced his wife and gained custody of their two children. Susan volunteered to help care for them. She and William fell in love, and the couple married in 1947. Their child, Kathy, was born two years later.

As William’s military career took off, the family moved from Denmark to New Mexico to Indiana.

“My father was the glue that held the family together,” Kathy said. “Mother was the entertainer.”

Susan and William threw as many parties as they attended, hosting up to 30 people for a cocktail party. She was a good cook who liked to experiment, creating hors d’oeuvres while William put big band music or Frank Sinatra on the stereo. By the mid-1960s, the couple invited friends of different races to their parties.

“My mother taught me to have an expansive view,” Kathy said. “I was raised not to be prejudiced.”

As much as she loved socializing and throwing parties, Susan also loved her martinis. In the mid-1950s, though, she gave up alcohol completely.

“She handled it with as much grace and maturity as she could,” Kathy said. “She never drank again, and she never wavered.”

After William’s death in 1978, Susan moved along the East Coast, eventually settling in Kinston to be near Kathy and her husband. Susan volunteered weekly at Mary’s Kitchen, and it was at her urging that the soup kitchen began serving Christmas Day dinner. Ever the gracious hostess, Susan served turkey, dressing and gravy to those less fortunate.

Christmas Day, as it turns out, was Susan’s birthday, too.

Susan Elizabeth Owens Menoher is also survived by daughter Susan Vatter and a son, Chuck Menoher; by five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

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