Fred K. Monroe | University of Illinois Archives

Name: Fred K. Monroe

Historical Note: Fred K. Monroe was born in Francisco, Indiana in 1883. In the late 1890s, Monroe graduated from nearby Oakland City High School and attended Oakland City College. After graduating, he directed the Oakland City Band and taught at the local elementary school for three years before becoming a mail carrier. In 1922, Monroe moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Here, he tuned pianos and played tenor saxophone with the Roy D. Smith Royal Scotch Highlander Band. As a member of the Highlander Band from 1922-1926, Monroe met and befriended an alto saxophonist by the name of Edward J. Heney. In 1924, Heney became a member of the Sousa Band and recommended that Sousa hire Monroe. Monroe joined later that year and would perform with the Sousa Band from 1924 until 1931. Nicknamed "Hoopie," Monroe played saxophone and bass saxophone with the Sousa Band for multiple tours and radio broadcasts. Monroe led the Sousa Saxophone Octet and served as the group's announcer and vocalist. Monroe also perform harmonica and banjo solos with the Sousa Band. From 1929 to 1932, Monroe was hired by the Everett Allyn Moses Orchestra, a band based in New Jersey. Within Moses's group, Monroe performed bass saxophone with the Sunshine Saxophone Six and served as the orchestra's "entertainer and humorist." In 1931, He performed with W. Earl Duncan's Band in Miami, Florida. Following Sousa's death in 1932, Monroe became an active member of the Sousa Band Fraternal Society. Sometime in the 1930s, he moved back to Indiana and opened a music store in Evansville. While in Evansville, Monroe formed his own ensemble called the Monroe Saxophone Sextet and directed summer concerts with the Evansville City Band. Monroe died on December 6, 1960 in Evansville, Indiana.

Sources: "Ex-Sousa Bandsman, Fred K. Monroe, 77, To Be Buried at OC," Princeton Daily Clarion (Princeton, IN), Wednesday December 7, 1960.

Note Author: Nolan Vallier