May 27, 2017

Be there to keep monongah high alumni reunion alive

Put May 27, 2017 on your calendar if you graduated from Monongah High. It will be the 94^th Monongah High Alumni Reunion in Fairmont.

Since Monongah High’s last graduation class was in 1979, there are no replacements when alumni pass away, so it’s important for those still alive to show in greater percentages to keep the alumni reunions going.

There were 150 at the 2015 Alumni Reunion at the Knights of Columbus on Mary Lou Retton Drive.

The oldest was Mary Raddish Shuttlesworth, Class of 1940, who is 94 and the last survivor of eight siblings. Her sister, Helen Raddish Godhart of Idamay after decades of operating a funeral home in Keego Harbor, Michigan, passed away in 2015 at the age of 96.

Other children of Michael Raddish and Mary Leskovich Raddish Krolich were Mike Raddish, Class of 1933, who married Marilyn Byard Raddish, Class of 1936; George Raddish, Class of 1955, Tony and Steve Raddish, Andy Krolich, Anne Tucci, Mamie Shepherd and Margaret Moorehead.

Marcie Goush Raddish of Monongah and Mark Raddish of Fairmont were the parents of Brogan Raddish, who passed away from cancer – specifically Ewing's Sarcoma, which usually starts in the bone -- at the age of 14 in 2009.

Since, Brogan’s grandmother, Dietta Harden Goush, Class of 1959, sells jewelry and T-shirts to raise money for the Brogan Raddish Scholarship Fund, which is near $10,000.

Brogan’s paternal grandparents are Dave Raddish, Class of 1958, and Luanna Felton Raddish, Class of 1961, of Fairmont.

Dietta is an assistant teacher at North Central Community Action. 

George Raddish, Jr., who grew up in Four States, was an Air Force veteran and retired from Calvert Wire Company, passed away in 2011 in Hostetter, Pennsylvania. His parents were Josephine and George Raddish. George, Jr.’s wife, Delores Burrik Raddish, predeceased him.

Other members of the Raddish families who graduated from Monongah High:

Keith Raddish, Class of 1961.

Devon Raddish, Class of 1969.

R. Mark Raddish, Class of 1971.

Mark Raddish, Class of 1974.

Mary Raddish Gwinn, Class of 1975.

As for the Shuttlesworth family, Opal Cool Shuttlesworth, widow of Howard Shuttlesworth, Class of 1973, passed away in 2015. She was pastor of the Four States Tabernacle since 1964.

There’s also Mary Dalton Shuttlesworth, Class of 1941, and Edith Shuttlesworth Anderson, Class of 1942.

Appealing for continued support for the Monongah High Alumni Reunion, board member Dolores Edwards wrote:

“We, the Alumni Association, are hoping to continue the alumni reunion for at least another 7 years. That will be our 100-year anniversary.

“It started in 1922 and has continued on. Monongah High School Alumni Association is the longest running active association in the state of West Virginia.

“We have a banquet every year and honor four classes each year. Since Monongah High closed in 1979, there are no more 25-year classes to honor. So we now honor graduates of 40, 50, 60 and 65 years ago.

“And, yes, we do have people this old attend. Last year our oldest attendee was 94. Mary Raddish Shuttlesworth. Was wonderful seeing her and she gets around great. Love you, Mary.

“You don't have to be an honor year graduate to attend. It's open to all MHS alumni.

“Hope to see a full house again at next year’s reunion. May 27, 2017.”

In Ohio, the Miamisburg High School Alumni Reunion, which began in 1888, claims to be the longest continuous high school alumni reunion in America. Monongah is the endurance champ in West Virginia – as long as enough of us continue to show up every Memorial Day weekend.

 

Greta Martin Mike, Class of 1922, who married one of the Mike barbers, started it. It's up to you and me to keep it going. 

Greta Martin Mike was Marylee Hertzog Gwinn’s 3rd & 4th grade teacher in 1938 and 1939  before she married the barbering Mike brother. “Probably the best of the Worthington teachers,” Marylee wrote. Marylee lives in Rockville, Maryland with husband E.J. Gwinn.

I think Greta married Jimmy Mike, brother of Mutt Mike. I got many a haircut at their barber shop under the Monongah National Bank in the center of downtown East Monongah.