Prentiss Earl Monson II

A funeral service is June 6 at FitzHenry's Carson Valley Funeral Home in Gardnerville for 10-year Gardnerville resident Prentiss Earl Monson II, 65, who died May 16, 2009, of an apparent heart attack while competing in a rifle match in Bishop, Calif. His wife and shooting partner, Kas, was at his side.

Born in Pittsburgh, Calif., Nov. 16, 1943, he was a fifth-generation Californian. His father, Prentiss Earl Monson Sr. served in World War II. His mother, Peggy Marie Berlander, was a second-generation Californian. Her father earned his citizenship serving with Gen. Pershing in World War I. Mr. Monson's family moved to California in the 1800s, settling in the Placerville, San Francisco and Oakland areas.

Mr. Monson was a graduate of Petaluma High School and Santa Rosa Junior College. He served in the U. S. Army, completing two tours in Vietnam. He began his 29-year law enforcement career in 1971 as a Sonoma County Reserve Deputy Sheriff. In 1974, he was hired as a full-time deputy sheriff. He retired in 1999 as detective sergeant of property crimes.

An avid fly fisherman, Mr. Monson only used his godfather's bamboo rod, feeling that new technology was not for him. He was a founding member of the Sam Brannan Chapter No. 1004 of E Clampus Vitus. He was a life member of the National Rifle Association. He was an avid reader of biographies, a political debater and a lover of cowboy music.

Mr. Monson met his wife, Karen "Kas" MacMillan Monson, while living in the San Francisco Bay area, and married her in 1968.

Mr. Monson is survived by his wife; step-mother Diana J. Osborne Monson of Sonoma, Calif.; and a great many friends.

Mr. Monson will be buried at Union Cemetery in Placerville. Donations to the Veteran's Guest House, 888 Locust, Reno, NV 89502 or the NRA would be appreciated.