Anthony Bruce Munroe

Anthony Bruce Munroe August 17, 1947 –June 6, 2023, was born in New York City to Warren Munroe and Zenia (Kaczynski) who were living in the same New York brownstone on E.66^th Street at the time of his birth, as were his mother’s parents, when she was born.

 

Once a Boy Scout, Tony was imbued with the principles of bravery and service. This, combined with thrift, led him to accept a military scholarship from Alfred University during the Vietnam War, graduating with a degree in Ceramic Engineering.  

 

After ROTC, Tony went to Officers Training, Jump School and Special Forces Training becoming a Green Beret.  Sent to Panama for additional training, he became a jump master and spent much of his time doing practice missions in the jungle, much to his dismay, as the War slowed down in 1971-72, before he could be called to serve.

 

Following his discharge from the Army, Tony went back to school, receiving his Masters in Materials Science from SUNY NY at Stonybrook.  This led to his career in the oil industry, in Africa and then in Saudi Arabia, first for CB & I and then for Parsons LTD.  When he arrived in Yanbu with a half empty duffle bag, his roommate inquired where the rest of his belongings were, and Tony said that’s it.  While in Yanbu he collected objects he thought might be useful from dump sites of contractors, leaving with a very full duffle bag.

 

Returning to the US in 1981 after ‘retirement’ he dedicated himself to his avocation of building, designing and crafting while frugally watching his pennies and investing.  Living in the house he assisted his sister to buy in Brookline, he turned the basement into a workshop and created an Art Nouveau library with bentwood bookcases and stained-glass doors, a bedroom with vaulted ceilings and his first porches with gingerbread trim.  

 

Living in Brookline, Tony resumed his friendship with Lucy Lacoste, a potter at the time, whom he met at a party in 1976, the summer of the Bicentennial.  She became his wife in 1987.  Desiring to live in a Victorian, yet insisting on paying cash for his house, Tony settled on a one-bedroom cape-cottage in Stow which he proceeded to turn into a two-story Queen Anne Victorian, complete with turret, stained glass windows, inlaid wood floors and a spacious wrap-around porch.  He gave the house an abundance of unique handcrafted shingles, wood molding and gingerbread trim. This was all done single handedly—even digging the foundation when the backhoe guy didn’t show up, followed by framing and raising the rafters, roofing, wiring, plumbing and building two brick chimneys.

 

In 1982 Tony joined the Army Reserves, completing his Army career as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1998.

 

Anthony Bruce Munroe passed away peacefully at twilight on June 6 from complications of Parkinson’s Disease at his home in Stow MA, the very same Victorian that he had created many years ago, with his wife holding his hand.  Engineer, elite soldier, artist-builder, he is survived by his beloved wife Lucy Weston Lacoste of Lucy Lacoste Gallery in Concord; his dear sister Stephanie Munroe, a film editor from Brookline, her husband Leo Abbett; their child Zad and partner James Carlsen.  He is also survived by his sister-in-law Estelle Lacoste Robinson and brother-in-law Robert Louis Lacoste, as well as many nieces and nephews on the Lacoste side of the family. 

 

Special thanks go to his devoted caregivers Ana Pooler, Junior Rivera, and Mark Lee who made his care at home possible, as well as the team at Ascend Hospice of Worcester who provided invaluable support, headed by his nurse Melissa Smith.

Tony left a detailed list of instructions to his wife which included:  Report my death as “Killed by Pussycats” FIRE HAZARD:  Clean lint filter on clothes dryer after each use!!! And get car inspected; Suburu expires in May.  Police will give you a ticket if it expires!!

A keeper of life-long friends, these include Chip “Warren” Matthews and Chip’s wife Laurel from his Camp Mountain Lakes days; Jay C. Olner, his Army buddy whose path with Tony crossed back and forth many times over the years; and Larry Bell, his roommate in Saudi.  Mike and Milada Mischo are among his devoted friends from Massachusetts

Friends and family will gather to honor and celebrate Tony’s life at Trinity Chapel, 81 Elm St. Concord MA on Saturday, June 17 at 11:00 am. 

A Tribute Film by his sister Stephanie Munroe will be shown at the Reception in the Parish Hall directly after the church service.  The public is invited.

Woburn, MA  01801
www.scoutspirit.org

 

 

Arrangements under the care of Concord Funeral Home, 74 Belknap Street, Concord, MA 01742  978-369-3388  www.concordfuneral.com