Getting Personal: Lawn Rangers founder Pat Monahan

Explain, in one sentence, what it is you do.

I am central Illinois czar of the assembly of cleaning tools, a division of The Thomas Monahan Co., a family business since 1922.

What time do you typically get up? What do you do the first hour of the morning?

It's better to be at work alert than on time.

What did you have for lunch today? Where? Who with?

I have the pleasure of working with two of my brothers and up to three nephews and, sometimes, two sons. We eat at the Arcola Subway daily and are known as the "Country Wheat Boys."

Best high school memory:

Our high school basketball team was 27-3 and went to the Sweet 16 back in the one-class days. It was sweet.

Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes.

I am an equal shoe owner, and I treat my shoes the same as I treat my nine children – like dogs.

What does a perfect Sunday afternoon include?

I was trained early on that phone rates are cheaper on Sundays, and though this hasn't been true for maybe 15 years, Sunday has always been telephone day.

Was there one book you read as a child that you still cherish? Own? Read?

"Maximum Bob," by Elmore Leonard

Where on earth are you dying to go? Why?

Back to Ireland to see the glorious faces, to hear the lilt of Irish laughter and to enjoy the brilliant conversation.

Tell me about your favorite pet.

Bandit was a 17-year-old mixed breed who misused his intelligence. He could read license plates and cough like a human. In his prime, he had the run of the town, resulting in Father's Day being a very busy day for Bandit.

Have you discovered as you matured that you are becoming like one of your parents? Which one and how?

I do believe I have my father's warm heart and my mother's common sense. I have learned a lot from my children. I encourage them to learn ... to be as compassionate as their mother.

What would you order for your last meal?

Popcorn.

What can you NOT live without?

Lake Michigan.

Who do you have on your iPod?

Who knew there was a need to carry 1,000 songs around in your pocket?

What's the happiest memory of your life?

Happiest is real tough to pick, but I will always cherish marching with most of my children and many of my lifelong friends in the Inaugural Parade. It was magic.

If you could host a dinner party with any three living people in the world, what three people would you invite?

This is tough. I could go with Pope Benedict, President Obama and Queen Elizabeth, but everyone would want to know the punch line. I could invite just Dolly Parton and consider her as three. I am fascinated by Warren Buffett, Father Hesburgh and Muhammad Ali, but I would have to spend all my time recording what was said. I believe I would have to settle on three old, dear friends I hadn't seen for some time.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

When you sit down to play poker, look around for the sucker. If you don't see one, get up, because it's you.

What's your best piece of advice?

Find your passion, stick with it and you will prosper. Perhaps the ultimate example is the group of like-minded Arcolians who took to the streets of Arcola twirling brooms and pushing mowers in the Broom Corn Festival Parade, kept at it for 28 years and ended up headlining the 2009 Inaugural Parade.

Their story will be released soon in the coffee table book "Who Were Those Masked Men?"

Incidentally, the Ranger motto is "You're only young once, but you can always be immature." I also like Tim Russert's "No exercise is better for the human heart than reaching down to lift another person."

What was your first job, and how much did you make an hour?

I was a tunnel salesman with my grandfather. I would help him cut the tunnels up in the offseason and sell them as postholes.

What was a pivotal decision in your career, and how did you arrive at that decision?

I was working in Chicago for IBM and had the chance to come back to Arcola. Should I do it? I reversed the question and asked myself "Why did you ever leave?"

Do you have a bad habit? What is it?

I don't consider it a bad habit but some would say it's undesirable behavior. I believe you only go around once, so live a full life and never pass up a dancing bear.

How do you handle a stressful situation?

I enjoy creating a little stress once in awhile, but I assume you mean being the stressee. I tell myself adversity builds character; you're not the first one to have been dealt a tough hand; and in every adversity, there is opportunity (make that lemonade).

Also on this date

• UI stepping up patrols after armed robbery on campus
• Herman: 'It's good to have the ambiguity resolved'
• Slain soldier returning to Rantoul this morning
• Scramble for county board, statehouse seats to begin
• Champaign in no rush to set up police review board
• Champaign council willing to wait for state police report
• Vermilion County men taking charge with vehicles
• Judge denies bid to reduce sentence in fatal DUI crash
• UI's annual faculty meeting will have new roster at top
• Obituaries

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