Joanna Hewitt Ross

From the mouth of babes . . .

Joanna Lee Hewitt Ross, daughter of Mark Hewitt and granddaughter of Thomas Hewitt of Fairmont who grew up in Monongah, relays this gem:

“Last night I went to check on the little girls when I was going to bed. I was surprised to find five-year-old Molly "reading" a graphic novel of Macbeth.

"Molly, put that down and go to sleep!" I whispered, trying not to wake up her sister.

"But mom," she begged, "it's Shakespeare!"

“How can you argue with that?”

That reminds me of when my daughters were younger and I would play a Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composition on our record player, turn to me daughter and say “Tchaikowsky!”

One day we had the local newspaper classic music critic to our Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio home for a visit and a meal. Our CD player handled four discs at a time, and was playing in the background while we talked.

The disc with the Tchaikowsky work began playing. My 4-year-old, sitting on the floor by the coffee table, jerked her head up and said, “Tchaikowsky!” The look on the classic music critic’s face at a 4-year-old recognizing the 19^th century Russian composer’s work was priceless.

Joanna and husband Mike Ross met in their high school drama department.

Joanna is involved in preserving and promoting North Central West Virginia coal heritage with Fairmont State's Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center. They work with community partners through the use of technology (social media, crowdsourcing, way finding) to promote local businesses and local coal heritage sites.

Joanna and Elaine Hewitt Monell, Class of 1949, the widow of Raymond “Soak” Monell, Class of 1945 who lives in the Dayton, Ohio suburb of Riverside, are cousins.

Charity Morris, daughter of the late Danny Morris, Class of 1947, is related to Joanna and Elaine through Sallie Ann Edwards, who came to America from Wales.

Sallie Ann was the half-sister of Danny’s mother, Katherine Grace Morris. Her parents were Margaret Elizabeth Jones Edwards and Edward Edwards. Thomas Hewitt was Sallie Ann’s son.

If you have memories of the Hewitt or Ross families, or stories of erudite children in your family, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and I’ll add them to this Monongah High Alumni blog.