Although the "h" in Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is actually silent, Tucson's last Monthan is not.
Just about everyone in the city pronounces the "Monthan" in "Davis-Monthan Air Force Base" with a "th" sound.
George Monthan, the nephew of Oscar Monthan - after whom the base was named - tolerates people using the "th" sound to his face, and sometimes even says it that way himself if he's just met someone and wants to streamline the conversation.
Monthan is 89. His wife has passed away and his children have taken other last names. He's the last Monthan remaining in Tucson, at least with bloodlines connected to Oscar Monthan, an Army Air Service member who died in a training exercise crash in 1927.
Monthan's grandmother, Alma Monthan, is responsible for keeping the name alive. Two years after her husband, Jeremiah Tattersfield, died in 1915, she took her four boys - including Oscar and Guy, who would one day father Guy and George - to the courthouse to change their last names to Monthan.
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"She was proud of her name," Monthan said.
On Sept. 23, 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew in to Tucson to give the name permanent life, dedicating Davis-Monthan Field, named for Oscar Monthan as well as Samuel H. Davis, a Tucson airman who died in an aircraft crash in Florida in 1921.
George Monthan attended the ceremony. His father, Guy, lifted him up so he could see Lindbergh's plane, the Spirit of St. Louis.
Oscar Monthan, whose family operated ranches in Vail and Tanque Verde, was known as one of the top engineers in the Army Air Corps, which eventually became the Air Force.
The base has been known as Davis-Monthan Air Force Base since Jan. 13, 1948.
Tucson has seemingly been mispronouncing the name since. Guy was apparently more rankled about it than George.
"My late brother was very adamant about it. He used 'Montan' all the time," Monthan said, referring to Guy Monthan, who taught at Northern Arizona University and died in 2006.
"It's inevitable" that people will continue mispronouncing the name, Monthan said. "I'm not going to fall on my sword about it."
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Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
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