Family of the Year
Family legacies run deep at Monmouth.
2023 Award Recipient - The Dew Family
On the wall of Glennie Gymnasium in the College’s Huff Athletic Center, there’s a banner that honors some of our past championship-winning basketball teams. The first team on that banner is the 1937-38 team, and one of its players was Clairus Dew.
Clairus was the youngest of three brothers from the town of Monmouth who attended Monmouth College. The first was J.R. Dew from the Class of 1932, followed by Leroy Dew in the Class of 1934 and, finally, by Clairus in the Class of 1938.
Clairus went on from his days at Monmouth to serve as vice president at Midwestern United Life Insurance Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was very sad news that in the past few years, we lost Clairus at the age of 103. He is survived by his beloved wife of 76 years, 1941 alumna Elizabeth Johnson Dew, who’s now over 100 herself.
Three of Leroy Dew’s children attended Monmouth – Larry Dew and his wife, Judy Burmeister Dew, both Class of 1966, and their daughter, Laura; Mary Dew Bryant, Class of 1969, and her husband, L.T.; and Lyndea Dew Brown, Class of 1970, and her husband, Tary.
Judy, Mary and Lyndea were all members of Kappa Delta during their time at Monmouth.
Larry and Judy, upon their Monmouth graduation, used their liberal arts education to serve in Guam as teachers for two years. They have remained lifelong educators. Larry ultimately retired as a superintendent of schools and Judy as a special education teacher. Lyndea joined her brother and sister-in-law in their passion for education, serving as an elementary school teacher her entire career.
It’s one thing to consider the Dew family tree, and all its many branches. But when you envision another tree – one that represents all the young lives that were touched by the Dews who went into education, and how those roots trace back to Monmouth College and to professors who were here when the Dew brothers were on campus – it’s really quite something.
Do you know some proud Scots who deserves to be recognized? Fill out the nomination form below today!