Jim Commodore, Class of 1950, passed
away Thursday, Oct. 23 in Morgantown, where he had lived for decades.
Jim’s sister, Rose Commodore Cain,
also Class of 1950, lives in Fairmont. So does Joe Commodore, their brother.
Other brothers are Tom Commodari, Class of 1958, who lives in Monongah, and Don
Commodore, also Class of 1958, who lives in Rock Creek, Ohio (population 529), in Ashtabula County in the most northeast tip of the Buckeye State, where the big deal in town is the annual Ox Roast.
Jim’s grandson, Shane Commodore, is a
walk-on on the WVU football team. He’s a 6-foot-1, 201-pound redshirt freshman
from Morgantown. Shane’s father is Mike Commodore.
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| Rose Commodore Cain, John Olesky in 2005 |
Bob Cottrill, Class of 1951, who lives
in Melbourne, Florida, phoned me with the sad news of Jim’s passing and said
that Eugene “Hammer” Tartell, Class of 1951; Joe “Beansy” Elutrio, Class of
1951; and Bob are the only surviving of the 1950 Monongah High
football starting offense.
Gone are Jim DeBolt, Don Felton, Bob
Raymond, Tom “Bum” Orsini, Frank Michalski, Benny Salopek, Larry Rankin, Carroll Rogers, Coach
Jim Feltz, Coach Earl Keener.
Jim Commodore was not afraid of work.
Bob Cottrill remembers when Jim, as a teenager, worked on a garbage truck.
Bob would kid him with “What do they pay you, 50 cents an hour and all you
can eat?”
But Bob respected Jim and his work
ethic, which permeated those of us who grew up in the shadow of Monongah High.
I think it’s why so many of us, out of proportion to the national average
percentage-wise, did so well in our careers and in life. Generals, pilots, high-ranking
management, Pulitzer Prize winning newspapers litter the lives of Monongah High
alumni.
Monongah and Monongah High was the
crucible that made us better human beings. If there were more Monongah Highs
the world would be a far, far better place.
And we also were the beneficiaries of
fantastic Old World food. Cottrill remembers Jim’s mother, Dominca Commidari
(others changed the family name to Commodore), who “made the best spaghetti and
meatballs. It was some of the best food we had.”
As the son of a mother born in
Pellizzano, Italy (in the north), where whitewater rafting by tourists is the
big draw today, and a Nona (grandmother) born in Mione, Italy, which is about 2
blocks by 3 blocks wide by American standards (yes, I’ve been there, and walked
through the 1848 stone house she grew up in, with eight people sleeping in one
average-sized bedroom), and the grandson of a granddaddy who was born in
Mogilno, Poland and a grandmother who grew up in a Pennsylvania Polish
community, I got the best of both worlds.
Spaghetti, polenta, pieroggis,
galumpsis (cabbage rolls), kielbasa (Polish sausage). My mouth waters as I type
this.
When Paula and I a few years ago walked into an Italian
restaurant in Sarasota, Florida run by a couple so fresh from Naples that their accents were heavy
with Old World pronunciations, and the wife/cook found out that I was from
Northern Italy, she said:
“I’m a gonna fix you some polenta because that’s what
they ate up north.”
She did and I could swear she was the
reincarnation of my mother, fixing the polenta that helped them survive World
War I when German soldiers made food scarce in Austria (Pellizzano was an
Austrian town before World War I, but Italy took over the land as a prize for
being on the winning side after the Armistice).
The Class of 1950, at least those of
us still alive and able to make the journey, will have our 2015 reunion at the
Three Ways Inn in Fairmont at 7 p.m. Friday, May 22, 2015. It will be a joint
reunion with the Class of 1955.
Tony Eates and John Olesky are
rounding up the 1950 survivors and Dolores Edwards, on the Monongah High Alumni
Reunion board of directors, is doing the same for the 1955 survivors. Being
younger, they have more classmates not with the angels than the 1950 alumni.
The next day we’ll troop over to the
Knights of Columbus on Mary Lou Retton Drive and join others for the
all-classes Monongah High Alumni Reunion for conversation, food and dancing.
RIP, Jimmy. You can play football in
Heaven with Jim, Don, Bobby, Bum, Frank,
Benny, Larry, Carroll and Coach Feltz
and Coach Keener will cheer you on again, only from the Angelic sidelines this
time.
Jim’s obituary:
James is also survived by son, Michael Commodore and spouse Karen of Morgantown, WV; daughters Rose Commodore of Deming, NM, Teresa Duffer and spouse Steve of Shriver, WV; and son John Commodore and spouse Donna of Morgantown, WV; three grandsons, John Christodoulou, Shane Commodore, and Eric Commodore of Morgantown, WV; four siblings, Rose Commodore Cain of Fairmont, Joe Commodore of Fairmont, WV, Tom Commodari of Monongah, WV, Don Commodore of Rock Creek, Ohio, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Known by his family as Jim, he was a veteran of the Korean Conflict, serving in the U.S. Navy. He was the owner and operator of the Warner Barbershop located beside the Warner Theater in Morgantown for more than 17 years. Jim also worked as a coal miner/fireboss for Consol Coal Company for more than twenty years.
Jim’s avid love was the outdoors, where he frequently hunted and fished. He traveled all over the US and Canada on hunting trips. In addition to finding God in nature, he was an active member of St. John’s Catholic Church for more than thirty years.
Family and Friends will be received at the Fred L. Jenkins Funeral Home, Thursday, October 30, 2014 from 4 pm until 7 pm. Visitation will continue Friday, October 31, 2014 from 10:00 am until the time of service at 11:00am at St. John’s University Parish. Burial will follow at Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens.
Facts
Born:
January 5, 1933Death: October 23, 2014
Services
Visitation
Thursday October 30, 2014, 4:00pm - 7:00pm at
Fred L. Jenkins Funeral
Visitation
Friday October 31, 2014, 10:00am - 11:00am at
St. John University Parish
Funeral
Friday October 31, 2014, 11:00am at St. John University Parish
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