Rex Monahan started out as a roughneck on oil wells. He became a highly successful oil man, benefactor to students, weight-lifting champion and piano player.
Monahan, of Sterling died Jan. 19 at age 84.
He “was driven to keeping his mind and body active,” said his daughter, Melissa Janovsky of Glenwood Springs.
He lifted weights all his life, started studying piano in 2000 and studied Spanish and astronomy.
“He was totally goal-oriented and charted his daily progress on everything,” Janovsky said.
Monahan was well-known for his support of education “because he thought that it was a way of building confidence in people and they’d have a better chance at getting better jobs,” said his wife, Doris Monahan.
He helped more than 1,500 students with tuition at Regis University in Denver, the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Nebraska, Trinidad State Junior College, Northeastern Junior College in Sterling and Morgan Community College.
Another 140 men and women at Colorado prisons studied for their GEDs or worked on associate degrees with Monahan’s financial help.
Monahan received numerous awards for his education grants, including the Civis Princeps Award, the highest honor Regis University gives, and the University of Nebraska Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Monahan did weight lifting for 60 years and won several national and international championships in the over-60 category.
About 20 years ago, he began visiting friends in nursing homes and other care centers. Eventually he visited everyone — going seven days a week. For some, he was their only visitor, said his daughter Susan Monahan, of Austin, Texas.
“He was a gregarious person and believed in giving people emotional support,” she said.
Rex Monahan was born in Fremont, Neb., on Oct. 2, 1924. He finished high school there and joined the Army, graduated from Officers’ Candidate School and was in charge of a prisoner-of-war camp in Austria during World War II.
He married Doris Lafler of Sidney, Neb., in 1947.
He earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and geology at the University of Lincoln in Nebraska. When he was 65, he earned a master’s in business administration at Regis University in Denver.
Monahan worked as a roughneck in Sidney and moved to Colorado in 1951 after hearing about the oil boom. He eventually became a lease broker, buying and selling leases, said his wife.
In addition to his wife and daughters, he is survived by another daughter, Kathleen Monahan of El Dorado Hills, Calif.; his son, Bill Monahan of Greeley; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
