Catching up with the Hartley brothers of Worthington

As per my request, I got a phone call from Gerald Nelson Hartley, Class of 1955, who lives in Orrville, Ohio and is one of three Hartley brothers who went to Monongah High from Worthington. He retired after his Air Force career and stints with multiple companies as an accountant (including 4 firms where he never left the same office because of buyouts). He studied accounting at the Ohio Institute of Business in Wooster.

Jerry --  who went by Nelson at Monongah High -- remarried after his first wife, Connie Robinson, passed away. Connie grew up in Worthington but graduated from Fairmont West after her family moved to Fairmont.

Connie's father and the father of Nancy Robinson Sauders, Class of 1950, were brothers. Connie's mother, Leona, and Nancy's mother, Hazel, were sisters. Nancy was the promo date of John Olesky, Class of 1950, at Monongah High. Nancy's father and Jerry's father also were good friends, and visited each other often. Nancy passed away in 2008. She was at the 2005 Monongah High Alumni Reunion. 

As for his name, Jerry explains:

"When I was born my parents named me Gerald Nelson. Everyone in WV knows me by Nelson but, after I left WV, naturally people used my first name. And mostly I am going by Jerry. When I joined Facebook I put Nelson in there so that the people I used to know in WV would recognize me."

Jerry remarried Harry Parker’s widow, born Kathryn Smith on the Ohio side of the Ohio River near Wheeling. The current Mrs. Hartley has been dealing with a 2008 back surgery that only made the situation worse. The two families had been friends for years.

Jerry didn’t meet Bobby Knight, Orrville’s famous basketball coach (Indiana and Texas Tech), but he did visit Bobby’s mother, Margaret Knight, at her Orrville home before she passed away.

Jerry’s daughter, Kathy Purcell, lives in Richmond, Kentucky. 

He had another daughter, Sarah Moore, who passed away Sept. 27, 2013. Sarah's son, Brian Moore, married Chastity Shalon Moore. Brian and family live in Scott Depot, West Virginia, near Charleston. Their children (and Jerry’s great-grandchildren) are Wyatt and Shelby.

Delmas Hartley, Class of 1959, lives in Carolina but likes to take his camper to Blackwater Falls or in the Summerville area in the summer. He married Peggy Lou Workman Hartley, Class of 1969. 

Delmas’ son, Delmas Gene Hartley, is Class of 1979. Delmas’ daughter, Trudy Hartley Plaugher, is a 1982 North Marion graduate. Carla Hartley Vanfossen is a 1986 North Marion graduate. Rocky Hartley is a 1988 North Marion graduate.

The third Hartley brother, David Hartley, Class of 1963, lives in Circleville, Ohio.

The Hartley brothers’ mother, Velma Hartley, worked in Worthington’s Hertzog Drug Store run by Virgil Hertzog, father of Marylee Hertzog Gwinn, Class of 1948, who lives in Rockville, Maryland, and Dick Hertzog, Class of 1942, a WVU chemical engineering grad who lived in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area till his 2005 death.

Louise Crim, mother of Martha and Reid Crim (whose widow, Kathryn Toothman Crim, Class of 1950, lives in Farwell, Michigan), also worked at the Hertzog Drug Store.

Jim McDaniel, Class of 1960, who lives in Behoboth Beach, Delaware, provides additional information on the Crim siblings:

John:  

An addition to the Crim family.  Beside Reid and Martha, there was a younger brother named Tommy.  He started out going to Monongah High, but later went to Farmington and played football for the Farmers.  He was 2 years older than me.  He passed on many years ago.  The Crim family lived upstairs over Thompson's store.  On the other side of the hall was where Dr. Barr had his office.  

Jim McDaniel

If you also have memories of the Hartley family, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and I’ll add them to this Monongah High Alumni blog article.