Mona Lee Brock

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Mona Lee Brock
Born
Mona Lee Bruster

(1932-01-01)January 1, 1932
Madill, Oklahoma, US
DiedMarch 19, 2019(2019-03-19) (aged 87)
Durant, Oklahoma, US
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTeacher
Known forFarm advocate and crisis support counsellor

Mona Lee Brock (January 1, 1932 – March 19, 2019) was an Oklahoma school teacher, farm advocate and crisis support counsellor. She was commonly referred to as "the Angel on the end of the line".

Early life[edit]

She was born Mona Lee Bruster on a farm in Madill, Oklahoma to farmer Floyd Bruster and Ada Roninson, one of eight children.[1] She attended Kingston High School.[1] In 1947 she met F.M. Brock, a farmer and they married on 12 July, the same year.[1][2] They would farm together in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. In later life, she attended Southeastern State College where in 1964, she obtained a bachelor's degree in education.[1] Further studies saw her obtain a master's degree in Education in 1967 from the University of Oklahoma.[3] She became a teacher in the Moore Public School system, Oklahoma, a guidance counsellor and principal.[3][2]

Later life[edit]

During the 1980s, American farming faced a crisis made of droughts, poor commodity prices, higher production costs, bad loans and a Russian embargo on grain.[1][3] These factors left farmers struggling to survive and Mona Lee set out personally to try to save farms and farmers.[1][3] She started by organising gatherings at her home in Lincoln County where local farmers could talk about how to survive.[1][3] She would later bring together farmers, lawyers, businessmen and bankers as advocates for their cause.[1][3] As suicides amongst farmers increased she started personally taking phone calls from them seven days a week at any hour.[1][3] She or others would attempt to reach those farmers while they were kept on the line, sometimes with success and sometimes not.[1][3] Willie Nelson came to hear about her, making contact with her and personally helped finance her causes.[1] He would later go on to form Farm Aid which would raise over $50 million for aid.[1][3] She was approached by the Oklahoma Conference of Churches who wanted to set up a suicide intervention hotline.[1] She assisted them by moving her operation to Oklahoma City to help set up a state-wide hotline.[1]

Death[edit]

She died in Durant, Oklahoma of congestive heart failure.[3] Her husband died in 1986 and a son Gary in 2003.[3]

Honours[edit]

In May 2018, she received a Citation from the Oklahoma House of Representatives for advocating on behalf of farmers in the state.[4][2]

Media[edit]

She appeared in the 2015 Farm Aid documentary, Homeplace Under Fire, that examines the American farm crises of the 1980s.[5][4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Seelye, Katharine Q. (4 April 2019). "Mona Lee Brock, Farmers' 'Angel' on the Line, Dies at 87". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Oklahoma Farm Report - Passing of Mona Lee Brock Stirs Fond Memories of Deceased's National Farm Crisis Hotline Legacy". oklahomafarmreport.com. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Schudel, Matt (23 March 2019). "Mona Lee Brock, 'angel' who counseled struggling farmers through crisis, dies at 87". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Mona Lee Brock Honored by Oklahoma House of Representatives". Farm Aid. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  5. ^ Abrahamsen, Elizabeth (2017-08-15). "'Homeplace Under Fire' Film Spotlights Grassroots Movement That Fights for American Farmers". Wide Open Country. Retrieved 2019-04-07.

External links[edit]

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