Obituary of Don W. Munro

The Rev. Don W. Munro Jr., who in a 20-year tenure at Felton Presbyterian Church built it into a cornerstone of the community, died Nov. 30. He was 80. He was surrounded by his wife and two sons when he left his pain behind. The cause of death was complications from pneumonia. Mr. Munro loved to read, write, preach, counsel, comfort, play the piano and talk. Especially talk. He was a champion conversationalist with an uncanny knack for ferreting out the experiences and passions of the person he was talking to and immersing himself, however briefly, in that person's world. He came into this world outfitted with a voracious curiosity. With his ability to connect with people from all walks of life, he tackled whatever conversational subject was at hand -- from the intricacies of the Gospels or the philosophical ramifications of quantum physics to the strengths and foibles of the San Francisco 49ers -- with an easygoing inquisitiveness. That personal touch proved an important part of his ministry at the Felton church, where he served from 1965-85. Mr. Munro certainly put much thought into his progressive and tolerant sermons, and he wanted to make them accessible and interesting, often inserting amusing quotations from Dear Abby and asides from San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen to make a point. (He kept an extensive collection of index cards with sermon-worthy quips filed by subject, and he could never resist a bad pun.) But it was the one-to-one connections of pastoring that satisfied him most. He used the telephone and personal visits like people use Facebook today, keeping up with his parishioners, especially in times of crisis and sickness. One of his signature contributions to the Felton congregation was his "Three Minutes a Day" program. Participants read a daily dose of Scripture and then phoned in to hear Mr. Munro offer a brief Bible lesson and prayer, all with the idea of the experience taking just a few minutes. (Though he loved to talk, he often thrilled members of the congregation with prayers that were short and sweet.) Sitting in his office, you could hear the huge, clunky recording machine -- this was long before answering devices -- groan into action on a regular basis, and you could tell just how many people, including shut-ins, availed themselves of the service. Though working long hours, his family was always paramount in his life. After he retired from the ministry, he loved making weekly trips to the first-grade Quail Hollow Elementary School classroom of his wife, Dyann, to play piano for school programs. (He loved the songs "Hats Off" and "Chicken Soup With Rice.") The piano was an important part of home life, too, whether it was spending long hours playing ragtime or accompanying his older son, Donald, on trombone, and younger son, David, on clarinet. When the joyous time for grandchildren came, he patiently sat with Connor and Matthew at the keyboard helping little fingers pick out first notes, then chords, and finally whole pieces. Playing ball, early on with his sons and later his grandsons, was another time for family bonding. He thoroughly enjoyed his Friday lunch meetings with the Santa Cruz Rotary Club, where he was a long and faithful member, and provided music for the weekly programs. Mr. Munro liked to travel, whether it was journeying across the country from Berkeley to New Jersey by train in college when he attended Princeton Theological Seminary, or the last great trip of his life, a 50th wedding anniversary cruise to Alaska with family members, including daughter-in-law Kris Munro and son-in-law Shane Moreman. In early family road trips, many of them made in a trusty brown 1974 Dodge Dart, he carted the clan across the vast reaches of the western United States, including a now legendary summer vacation spent driving all the way to Mount Rushmore only to be confronted by thick fog and a rigid deadline -- he had to turn around the next day in order to get back to the church in time for work -- that the landmark remained unseen to the four traveling Munros. His adventures included trips to San Luis Obispo to see son David while attending and graduating from Cal Poly, New York to see his son Donald graduate from Columbia University. He loved going to Anchorage, Alaska, when Donald worked there, and was thrilled with a wonderful trip with Dyann, Donald and David in 2005 to London and Paris. He loved to read, especially periodicals, soaking up all he could on politics, world cultures, nature, history, sports and science. In a way, his generalist interest with the world was an extension of his theology, a sort of "worship" of the endlessly fascinating moving parts of an intricate and divine creation. Mr. Munro was born May 21, 1935, in Berkeley, the son of Don W. Munro and Bernis Munro. He attended Berkeley High School and went on to major in history at the University of California at Berkeley. After earning a divinity degree at Princeton Theological Seminary, he returned to California to begin his career as an assistant pastor at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church. (He met Dyann Gilmore there in 1960, and they married three years later.) He moved to First Presbyterian Church of San Jose as assistant pastor, and in 1965 was called to Felton to oversee a church that several years before had split because of theological differences among the members. He spent many years rebuilding the congregation. In 1976, in mid-career, he earned a master's degree at San Francisco Theological Seminary. After leaving the Felton church, he served as an interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Salinas and then in retirement worked as a Realtor for a Felton real estate office. He and Dyann sold their longtime Ben Lomond home in 2013 and moved to Scotts Valley. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Dyann, a retired teacher, of Scotts Valley; son Donald, arts and culture critic at The Fresno Bee, and son-in-law Shane Moreman, a communication professor at California State University, Fresno; son David, an English teacher at Saratoga's Prospect High School, and daughter-in-law Kris, superintendent of Santa Cruz City School District, of Scotts Valley; and grandsons Connor and Matthew. He is preceded in death by his father, Don W. Munro, Sr.; mother, Bernis Munro; sister, Jeanie Munro Dutton; and brother, Kent Munro. The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at Dominican Hospital of Santa Cruz, especially the intensive care and telemetry care units, for their care and kindness. A memorial service officiated by Pastor Mary Blessing will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 12, at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, 5271 Scotts Valley Dr., Scotts Valley. In lieu of flowers, please send remembrances to St. Philip's or the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz Scholarship Fund, PO Box 497, Santa Cruz. For more memories of Don, go to www.donwmunro.weebly.com.