Obituary of Grace Munzer

Grace Elaine Munzer died on April 24, 2015 at Forest Hill Manor, Pacific Grove, after a long illness. She was born in Yakima, Washington to a family of early pioneers. She attended public schools in Naches, Washington and earned two Bachelor of Science degrees at Seattle University. After several years of employment in clinical laboratories in Tacoma, Washington, she was commissioned in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Her eleven years of active duty were spent at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., at a Station Hospital in Germany, and at Ford Ord, California. In 1961, while at Fort Ord, she married Dr. Hans W. Munzer, a professor at the Defense Language Institute. She then left active duty with the rank of Major and continued to serve in the military in the Army Reserve while at the same time working in civilian laboratories in Monterey. After her husband's death in 1976, she continued with Army reserve duty. She earned a Master's degree from Chapman College in 1977. As a 1972 graduate from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, she became the first woman officer to teach its curriculum from 1972 to 1977, and the first woman officer to serve as its faculty consultant and author from 1978 to 1980. She retired from the Army in 1980 as a full Colonel. In 1991, The School of Sciences and Engineering at Seattle University named Colonel Munzer as a Distinguished Graduate. Colonel Munzer was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Blood Banks, the Society of Armed Forces Medical Laboratory Scientists, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the Reserve Officers Association, The Retired Officers Association, the Military Order of World Wars, the World Affairs Council, the Carmel Music Society, and the Mozart Society of California. She is preceded in death by her husband, Hans W. Munzer, her two brothers, John and Stanley Beck and her sister Norma Clark. She is survived by her brother Lawrence Beck of Spokane, her beloved cousins, Thelma and Pat Scribner of Sacramento; Dave, Sue, Trevor and Tyler Scribner of San Jose, numerous nieces and nephews and her loving foster daughter Kim Thomas of Eagle, ID. The family would like to thank the staff at Forest Hill Manor for the tremendous care she received. Funeral Mass will be celebrated Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church, 8th St. and Lighthouse Ave. in Pacific Grove. Burial with full Military Honors will follow in the El Carmelo Cemetery in Pacific Grove. Memorial contributions may be made in her memory to the Grace Elaine Munzer Endowment Fund at Seattle University, Seattle 98122