Monroe Yarbrough

Monroe was born August 24, 1910 in Ladonia, Texas to Annie Thera Cobb Yarbrough and William Edward Yarbrough. As a child he moved to Guthrie and attended school there, graduating in 1929 from Guthrie High School. He was a member of the wrestling team all four years. After high school he worked for four years then entered Southwestern Theological Seminary in 1933, remaining there until the fall of 1935 when he returned to Oklahoma and attended Oklahoma Baptist University for two years. He transferred to Central State Teachers College now Central State University and received his B. A. degree in 1940. In August 1942 he came back to Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and graduated with a T. H. B. now T. H. M.. He held revivals in Oklahoma during the summer and was pastor of Central Baptist Church in Malone for 3 years and Tabor Baptist Church near Bryan for 2 years. There was such a need for teachers during the war, Monroe began teaching in 1942. He taught at Mayfield, Brandon, Franklin, Cleveland, Tokio, and Emhouse, finishing his teaching career with 19 years at Abbott High School. After retiring from teaching in 1968, he devoted full time to ranching on a farm south of Hillsboro. On May 14, 1942 he married Mildred Wright of Malone. They had more than 61 years of happy marriage before his death. He gave up ranching and moved to Hillsboro in 1982. His hobbies were reading, keeping up with current events, shopping, and gardening. Survivors include his wife, Mildred Yarbrough of Hillsboro; a son, Randall Yarbrough of Denver, Colorado; a daughter, Karon Eastland and husband, Dennis, of McKinney; three grandchildren, Elaine Starkey of Nashville, Tennessee, Brian Eastland a senior at Baylor University in Waco, and Kristen Eastland of McKinney; and a sister, Dorothy Mesny of Cummings, Georgia.