Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....MacPherson, Monroe 1993 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Marilyn Ransom mlnransom@chartermi.net May 17, 2011, 7:48 pm The Ionia Sentinel-Standard, Saturday, March 27, 1993 The voice of Ionia is stilled. Monroe MacPherson, owner of WION Radio, died unexpectedly early Friday at his home. He was 63. Although he had a heart ailment, he had been in apparent good health and had attended Ionia Public Schools’ community dinner Thursday evening to see his station’s news director, Steve Howard, receive a Silver Slate award from the district. He became ill after he returned home and died after medical assistance had been called. He and his family established WION Radio in 1953, with studios on Haynor Road across the road from where he grew up. Those who knew him recall he chose his life’s work early. During high school he was already committed to radio as a career, and he worked in it all his life. Speaking of the station at its 40th anniversary Feb. 1 of this year, MacPherson said, in part, “I had the privilege of reading the sign-on and announcing those very first programs. My Dad built the station—his son needed a job, you might say. Actually, I had been released from the Army only a few weeks before the station was ready to start broadcasting.” He worked this week, preparing advertising messages and overseeing station operations. His was the most-heard voice in the Ionia community for many years, both through WION broadcasting, travelogues and other shows he produced and narrated, and because of his connection with the Ionia Free Fair. He was born in Ionia May 29, 1929, the only child of Joseph Monroe and Lucile Horrocks MacPherson. His parents operated a well-known chicken hatchery. He attended Haynor rural school and was graduated from Ionia High School in the Classe of 1946. He attended a radio broadcasting school and then served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. He was station in Japan in Army Information services. After separation from the Army, he returned to Ionia and worked for a time at a radio station in Mt. Pleasant before the opening of WION. A director of Ionia Free Fair Association from 1968-1988, he prepared the messages announcing grandstand shows and other events which were broadcast on the fairgrounds during the annual run of the fair long before he was a director. For many years, he also operated the fair’s paging service and his station regularly produced from-the-fair radio shows from a broadcast booth under the grandstand. MacPherson also made commercials for the Ionia Free Fair which were broadcast on other radio stations in Michigan and also on televisions stations. He was actively involved in numerous community organizations and activities, especially Ionia Area Chamber of Commerce, Ionia Rotary Club and Ionia County Historical Society. For many years he announced or served as master of ceremonies in a wide variety of public events. He also regularly announced the annual Ionia Free Fair parade on Main Street. He was deeply committed to the history and lore of the Ionia area and collected photographs, historical materials, and early movies of the area. In 1983, he produced and narrated “Ionia: The First 150 Years.” A multi-media presentation, in observance of Ionia’s sesquicentennial. Recently, he also produced, filmed, and narrated historical interpretations of Belding and the Lyons-Muir area. The Belding video was completed last year. He remarked often on Ionia’s historical background and several time within the last few months, while researching a downtown building, remarked that every community has a history, “But Ionia really isn’t like other small towns. It has a really unusual past.” His interest in the history of the community nourished not only his radio and video work but also brought him to lead efforts to establish a museum to be built near the John C. Blanchard House on East Main Street. It was his dream to establish an interpretive historical museum for the Ionia community. He was also long-known for his interest in his Scottish antecedents and clan history. He made at least 24 trips to Scotland. He served as chairman of the United State Branch of the Clan MacPherson Association, as chairman of the International Association of the Clam MacPherson, and was clan coordinator for the Alma Highland Festival. He and his wife Phyllis frequently entertained Clan MacPherson members and officials at their home. He also led efforts to establish and equip the Clan MacPherson Museum in Newtonmore, Scotland. In addition to his work as president and owner of MacPherson Broadcasting, Inc., he was currently vice president of Ionia County Historical Society. He was a past president of the Michigan Association of Press Broadcasters Association. MacPherson was also a member of Ionia Theatre’s board of directors and took an active role in its preservation and development. Surviving him are his wife of 30 years, Phyllis; two sons, David Monroe MacPherson of DeWitt and John William MacPherson of Harbor Springs; a daughter, Mrs. Gary (Nancy) MacPherson-Betz of Ionia; and three grandchildren, Andrew, Joseph and Meghan. Funeral and committal services will be Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Cook Funeral Home, with the Rev. Kenneth Harger officiating. Burial will be in Easton Cemetery. The family will be at the funeral home Saturday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Memorials have been established for the proposed Ionia County Historical Society Museum and Clan MacPherson Museum in Newtonmore, Scotland. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/m/macphers11930nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mifiles/ File size: 6.0 Kb