SITTING: Dave Westfall, wife Marcia Michalski Westfall; Ally Raines, Dave & Marcia's daughter Amy's daughter; Ethan Raines, Ally's brother; Kiley Haney and Aiden Haney, children of Dave & Marcia's daughter Brandie
STANDING: Amy Raines, husband Chad Raines; Brevon Westfall, Amy & Chad's son; David Westfall, Jr., his daughter Lucy Westfall held by Dave, Jr.'s wife, Nichelle Westfall; Brandie Haney, husband Kiley Paul Haney, their son, Caleb Haney

Family of the Year, indeed!

Well, I had to wait 4 days till the Fairmont Times lifted its ban on me copying and pasting the article for free (everyone gets a 5-article free view every 30 days), but I got a bonus the Times’ story about the Westfall family being the Times West Virginian Family of the year and the follow story 3 days later detailing the Westfalls' holiday and family life.

The Westfalls came by their family traits honestly.

Among the finest Monongah High graduates in history (I include him even though he didn’t technically graduate) are the late Frank Michalski, my protector on the Sts. Peter and Paul School playground if anyone made fun of my speech because I was born with a cleft palate, and his still very alive Ramona Fullen Michalski, Class of 1949, my Monongah High Alumni Monongah “bureau chief.” If I have any questions about former Lions, I phone Monie, as close friends call her, and she’s there with the answers.

And when former Lions are in Monongah from their homes far from the West Virginia mountains, they visit Ramona and her swimming pool. It’s normal for Ramona to have 20 to 50 people enjoying conversation at her place on Bridge Street Extension which is a few hundred feet outside the Monongah town limits.

Ramona’s house is a living museum of Monongah High and Monongah history, right down to the Monongah Lion spitting out water for the thirsty.

Here’s the Fairmont Times story about Ramona’s daughter, Marcia Michalski Westfall, Class of 1974, of Kilarm, married to Dave Westfall, Class of 1948. Marcia and Dave whisk their way to Florida and California on their Harley motorcycle. These two know how to enjoy life.

I embrace the articles but would add the the Michalski family falls into this same category. The fruit didn’t fall far from the family tree.

 

Westfalls are ‘very supportive of each other’

By Matt Welch Times West Virginian Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT — As the busy holiday season began, Judy McCoy decided this was going to be the year she didn’t let the perfect opportunity slip through her fingers. 

It wasn’t the opportunity to bake a dozen of her best cookies or buy the perfect Christmas gift.

Instead, it was the opportunity to nominate Dave and Marcia Westfall’s family as the Times West Virginian Family of the Year.

“It’s funny,” McCoy said as she told the story. “I hadn’t bought a paper in a few days, and then I got one and read John Veasey’s column asking for nominations for Family of the Year. Every year I always say that Marcia and her family would be the perfect choice. This year I made sure to put it at the top of my holiday to-do list.”

Her efforts paid off, as the Times West Virginian has named the Westfalls this year’s Family of the Year.

Marcia is a kindergarten teacher at Monongah Elementary School, while Dave works for the Division of Highways, Marcia having served for more than 25 years and Dave working on his 23rd.

It was in the classroom where Marcia and McCoy first met.

“Marcia was in school ahead of me, but I had the opportunity to teach with her for several years when she was at Blackshere,” McCoy said. “She’s awesome. She was teaching third grade at the time, then she came down to kindergarten and we taught together. She was a good fit to our school and our school family. It was wonderful working with her.”

During those years as co-workers, McCoy and Marcia became close and often shared memories outside the classroom, whether it be at a family get-together or a weekend bonfire.

McCoy said that no matter the occasion, the Westfall family is always together having fun in some capacity.

“They’re an awesome family. They do a lot together, and they’re very supportive of each other,” McCoy said of the Westfalls, who have three children and eight grandchildren. “If one grandchild has a game, the whole family goes to that ballgame. It’s absolutely wonderful to see in these days and times where people are so busy.”

Marcia and Dave are the parents of Brandy Haney, Amy Raines and Dave Westfall and have welcomed each of their children’s spouses into the family along with a handful of grandchildren.

According to her nomination letter, McCoy said that both Marcia and Dave came from great families and have passed on their values to their children and grandchildren.

One of the neat things about this family, McCoy said, is that they all live relatively close to each other. While Dave and Marcia live on Koons Run Road, their two daughters live just a few miles away and their son lives on East Side.

“They’re all right there close together, and they’re always helping each other out,” McCoy said.

This time of year is always a special one for families, and one thing the Westfalls enjoy doing is sending Christmas cards to their friends and loved ones.

As much as they enjoy sending them, friends like McCoy enjoy getting them.

“It’s always a family picture with all of them in it,” McCoy said. “I always enjoy getting their Christmas cards because I always want to see how the kids have grown each year.”

For McCoy, being able to nominate her good friends was truly a blessing.

“I’ve known them and watched their kids grow up and have grandkids,” said McCoy, who has known Marcia and Dave since the 1970s. “I just think they’re very deserving of this award.”

And the second article on the Westfalls:

TWV’s Family of the Year the Westfalls celebrate life together

By Matt Welch Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT — For Dave and Marcia Westfall, family is everything. Then again, how could it not be when you have three kids and eight grandchildren to share everything with?

For the Westfalls, who have been selected as the Times West Virginian Family of the Year for 2015, family is built on love and respect and everything else follows suit.

“I know that my parents respect each other. They were always good to each other,” Marcia said. “It’s the same way with Dave — his mom and dad are both still here, and his dad really takes care of his mom. That’s important.

“And,” Marcia continued, “if you don’t have love, it’s hard to have respect.”

The Westfalls have enjoyed a wonderful life of raising children, attending many sporting events and taking family trips, including a cross-country trek that Dave and Marcia endured on their motorcycle.

Without their family, those things may have never happened. “We always do everything together. We celebrate everything,” Marcia said.

For as long as they can remember, sports has helped the family form a bond.

“When the kids come around, there’s a lot of basketball. We have a basketball court in the yard,” Marcia said. “That’s special.”

Between their children and grandchildren, attending sporting events has gone from just something to do to almost a good time for a family reunion for the Westfalls.

“My grandkids are getting older, so we go to a lot of their events,” Marcia said. “We spend a lot of time at Husky Field and the Monongah gym. One time, there was like 15 of us at a game. That almost filled a whole bleacher.

“There’s a lot of cheering for the grandkids,” she said. “It’s something special to do since we’re older. It’s fun.”

When they’re not watching their grandkids participate in sports, the Westfalls enjoy having picnics and their annual trip to Florida.

But no matter what’s going on, the family is usually together.

“There’s always somebody that you can count on when you have family,” Marcia said. “You know that you’re going to be loved. You know that when you’re in trouble, someone can comfort you.”

But even more than being an emotionally close family, the Westfalls are even physically close — their two daughters live just down the street and their son lives nearby on East Side.

Dave even helped build their two daughters’ houses, Marcia said.

Being a close-knit family, though, has been a longstanding tradition in the Westfall family.

“My mom and dad were married for a long time and so have Dave’s,” Marcia said. “For us, that’s almost like a family tradition: staying together. It gives us some pride.”

As the winter holiday season comes to a close, the Westfalls have celebrated another year together.

As a kid, Christmas time is always special.

But as a grandparent?

Even more so.

“It’s always nice to see them get something they weren’t expecting,” said Marcia, who added that they always make the trek to visit the kids for the holidays. “They’re always grateful and they appreciate everything.”

It’s no secret that grandparents are said to be the ones who are able to spoil the grandkids without repercussion.

Marcia laughed at that statement and put it this way: “When you’re raising your children, you’re very busy. It’s kind of hard to realize what you’re doing and what you’re building. But when you have grandchildren, it’s like, ah, now I see.

“That’s why you can have a little more fun with the grandkids,” she continued. “You can sit back and enjoy it a little more, because you don’t have as much responsibility.”

For the Westfalls, Dave and Marcia hope to continue to watch both their children and grandchildren grow day by day.