Dr. Monsees was a native of Sedalia, MO where he gained his basic education, was Salutatorian of his High School class, and Vice President of the Senior Council.  He played football during all four years of high school and participated in many other extracurricular school activities.

He entered the University of Missouri, Columbia, was a member of Farmhouse Fraternity, and joined a distinguished group in September, 1950 as a member of the fifth class at the School of Veterinary Medicine.  As did many of his colleagues, he spent time gaining experience in active veterinary practices and became a local hero in 1953 when he saved many cattle with Prussic Acid poisoning while working for Dr. Gouge.

Upon graduation in 1954, he joined seven other classmates, reporting for active duty in the U S Army Veterinary Corps at Ft Sam Houston, TX.  Following five weeks of basic medical indoctrination and ten weeks of food inspection training in Chicago, IL, he reported to Los Angeles, CA for duty inspecting food and for a short period, was Base Veterinarian.

Bill departed the Army in the spring of 1956 and returned to Sedalia and established a practice.  He was later joined by Dr.’s Linsenbardt and Payne.  In 1982 he served as president of the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association and in May 1983 he became State Veterinarian.   In 1986 he joined the Missouri Department of Agriculture, where he served until 1992.

Dr. Monsees retired and moved to Lake of the Ozarks where he was active in Rotary and the Methodist Church.  He also remained active in Veterinary Medicine doing relief work for several of his colleagues.

Shortly after moving to the lake, a storm felled a tree at the church and Bill being a good neighbor, cut and split the wood and gave the wood to a needy family.  Several weeks later a tree fell at the parsonage and he repeated his act of charity and another family became a benefactor of his generosity.  The minister suggested he go into business and he became the “go to” guy when trees suffered during storms.  He sold and delivered wood to many and the proceeds (Approx $10,000) was donated to “Heifer Project” for which he was honored by both the church conference and Heifer International.

Bill was an active member of the AVMA, MVMA, and the West Central VMA.

He shared his life with his wife, Jo, and with the families of their three children, Pamela, Charles Jr, and Sandy.