Monticello — Former Monticello Inde-pendent School Superinten-dent Vernon Miniard,
Sr. passed away on Saturday, March 27 at the University of Kentucky Medical
Center, after suffering a stroke. He was 83 years old.
Miniard was a well-known and respected educator and was one of the
original seven superintendents in Kentucky who pushed for the state to fund
all schools in the Commonwealth equally. The initiative is now known as
KERA, which created significant improvements in Kentucky's educational
system.
Miniard came to Monticello School in 1959 and was the school's first
principal. He served as superintendent at Monticello School from 1964 to
1990. When he retired, Miniard was the longest serving superintendent in the
state of Kentucky.
In his letter of resignation to the school board in 1990, Miniard noted,
"Monticello is a good school system and I am proud to have been a part of
it. We have a good faculty. The classified employees are good and our
student body can be ranked with the best. I have enjoyed my tenure with the
Monticello School system...I will always have a love of the Monticello
Independent School."
Over the years, Miniard served with 20 school board members and attended
400 school board meetings. An article, published in The Wayne County Outlook
on June 6, 1990, noted that he had missed only one board meeting during his
tenure, due to the death of his mother.
That dedication to Monticello continued long after his retirement, noted
Monticello Superintendent Donnie Robison.
"I never got to work with Mr. Miniard, but I did get to know him very
well over the last 16 years that I have been at Monticello School," said
Robison. "He was always very supportive of the school and he always showed
an interest in what we were doing."
Robison said that Miniard's name was still well-known throughout the
education community.
"Anytime I attend an educational meeting, and they find out that I am
from Monticello, they ask about Mr. Miniard...He is still remembered and he
is very well thought of," said Robison.
"I always thought the world of him, and he was very supportive of me,"
Robison continued. "He will be missed."
Miniard was born in Perry County Kentucky, the son of the late Delano
and Mammie Gross Miniard. He studied at Lee Junior College and Kentucky
Wesleyan. He did his graduate work at the University of Kentucky.
Miniard served in the U.S. Army during the Pacific Campaign of World War
II. He was a member of the Kentucky Retired Teacher Association, a member of
the Masonic Lodge, and the Monticello United Methodist Church.
He is survived by his wife, Frances Alexander Bradshaw Miniard; three
sons, Ralph, James and Vernon Miniard, Jr.
Friends, family, colleagues and former students had the opportunity to
pay their respects to the Miniard family on Tuesday, March 30 in the
facility that bears his name at Monticello Independent School‹the Vernon
Miniard, Sr. Auditorium.
Funeral services were held on Wednesday at the Monticello United
Methodist Church. Graveside military honors were performed by the Monticello
Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans. Burial was in the Elk Spring
Cemetery.
For complete details, see the obituary in this edition of The Outlook.