Nearly 1,200 people attended a memorial service for former Hickman High School head football coach Arnel Monroe on Thursday evening at Alumi Stadium in Columbia. Monroe died early Sunday morning of a heart attack.
“You don’t expect someone to die when they’re 49 years old,” said community member Charley Blackmore. “He’s already deeply missed…but he’ll always be a part of history at Hickman High School. There’s no doubt about that.”
Members of the Columbia community have called him “Spanky,” a reference to the film “The Little Rascals,” since he was a child. The nickname stuck with him during his time at Hickman. He grew up and graduated from the high school in 1985. After graduating from the University of Central Missouri he rejoined Hickman as a special education teacher in 1993.
“You can’t understand it unless you went to Hickman High School yourself,” said Blackmore, who graduated from Hickman in 1963. “If you did, and you realized the tradition that’s always followed the Kewpies and know how much it meant to [Monroe] when someone leaves this school and comes back, it’s an honor.”
In 1995, Monroe began working as an unpaid assistant under head coach Greg Nesbitt. Then, in 2006, Monroe took over as the defensive coordinator. After Jason Wright stepped down in 2011, he took the role of head coach.
Roderick Williams, the current defensive coordinator for Hickman, was mentored by Monroe and learned the tricks of the trade when he took over the position.
“His impact on me was awesome and huge,” Williams said. “He helped get me on the staff here as a coach. He mentored me, and taught me everything he knew as a defensive coach himself and passed the ranks off to me as a defensive coordinator.”
Monroe led Hickman to a winning season of 9-2 in 2012. The Kewpies had an 18-33 record when coach Monroe was at the helm, and before he died, he had hopes that the Kewpies would find a way to win again.
“When Battle started and they redistricted, he lost so many athletes,” said Blackmore. “Nevertheless, the record he had here prior to that was pretty good. He beat Rockbridge twice, and Jeff City once. I told him at that time [2012] that he locked himself a job here for at least five years regardless of what happens after.”
No replacement has been found for Monroe at the moment, but the school will keep an eye out for talent like his to inspire not only the school, but the community as well. Until then, head football coach Arnel Monroe will be remembered by the city he loved.
“As a staff, we haven’t even bother to worry about that right now,” said Williams. “We’ve gone on the best we could. Whoever it may be and whoever it should be we’ll worry about when it gets time for that, but for right now we’re going to celebrate his life and what he meant to this school.”
Funeral services for Monroe will be held June 11 at The Crossing Church in Columbia at 11 a.m. after visitations end.
