To the adults in Monongah, Patsy Forte’s Rexall Drug at Bridge and Main streets was a pharmacy.

To the children, it was a candy store.

Dietta Harden Goush, Class of 1959, gushes: “The penny candy case was the best. We would stop after church for sodas and chips, too.”

Elaine Manning Grugin of Mannington, whose father was Jeffrey Blair Manning, Class of 1976, wrote: Patsy “used to be so patient with us kids picking out candy. Remember the glass counter just inside the door?”

Fairmont East graduate Sharon Prahl Symenski’s eyes got big when she went in Forte Drug Store. She wrote: “They used to have the biggest jawbreakers I had ever seen. I would put them in a baggie and take a hammer to them.”

Mary “Kitty” Ahouse Morrison, Class of 1968, who lives on Lyndon Avenue in Monongah, had a different memory: “I loved going to get the latest paper dolls.”

So did Teresa Jacobin Palmer, Class of 1973, married to John Ed Palmer, Class of 1974, and the parents of Monongah Town Councilman JohnBoy Palmer: “I remember the beautiful jewelry in those glass cases. It was costume jewelry but nowadays it’s almost priceless.”

Goldie Basagic Huffman, Class of 1974, living in Monongah with husband John Huffman, added: “He also let us fix our pop in those paper cups and metal holders and read those Archie comic books and others. I cleaned for them when I got older.” Goldie is a former Monongah High cheerleader. She’s still cheering on Monongah in many ways.

For Donna Knight, who attended both Monongah and Mannington high schools, the memory was: “When I was in junior high, I would go there for lunch and get an ice cream sandwich and an orange pop.”

Carolyn Marie Prahl Mikulski, Class of 1966, remembers: “Lots of kids in the neighborhood took their turn carrying Patsy's lunch and dinner as we came of age. My sister and I took our turn. I took over when Sandra Lipinski started high school. I still have a dainty handkerchief Mary gave me for my JR Prom. Amazingly, it matched my gown perfectly.” Sandra Lipinski Hawkins, Class of 1962, is the widow of Charles “Chuck” Hawkins. Marian “Mimi” Prahl Tennant, Class of 1969, is Carolyn’s sister.

Sally Wood Tarley, Class of 1959, retired Fairmont State professor, also remembers carrying Patsy’s lunch and dinner to him.

Chuck Herron wrote: “Patsy and my grandpa were good friends. When I was a young boy I delivered Mary and Patsy's groceries from Urban's grocery store,” which had to be a couple of miles from the drug store.

Linda Tomlinson Stevenski, Class of 1955 and the widow of Andy “Jiggs” Stevenski, a 1950 Grafton High grad, had Mary Louise Forte as her Girl Scout leader.

Charlotte Fullen Lloyd, Class of 1968, who lives in Bear, Delaware, remembers “working there during my teen years. I remember the sound of the coins as he searched through them in the back room. Once he fell down the basement steps and may have bled to death if my brother, George, had not found him. He always checked the door handle for at least 5 minutes after locking up at night. Just some of my fond memories of growing up in that wonderful little town.”

Charlotte’s siblings are the late Jim Fullen, Class of 1962, Dan Fullen, Class of 1961, who lives in Four States; and Connie Fullen Cantrell, Class of 1966,  who lives in Jasper, Alabama.

Patsy and Mary Louise Romino Forte’s son, Michael, Class of 1952, passed away in 2008. Michael retired as a juvenile probation officer in Marion County after 25 years and later did accounting and tax preparation. He also retired from the Army National Guard as a Master Sergeant and served in the 249th Army National Guard Band. He was a member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

Michael opened Morgantown’s Boston Beanery, patterned after the Boston pubs of the 1800s, in 1983. His son, also named Michael and married to Shari Forte II, owns the original Boston Beanery on High Street, plus the ones on Patteson Drive and at the Pines Country Club in Morgantown. There are eight Boston Beanery locations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Patsy and Mary’s son started the ball rolling.

 

Michael’s wife, Gloria Ann Guido Forte, passed away in 2004. Gloria’s father, Fairview High and Fairmont State and University of Maryland graduate Dr. Joseph Paul Guido, was a Marion County dentist for decades. He moved to Lewes, Delaware after he retired in 1986. He passed away there at the age of 88 in 2013.

Michael and Gloria’s son, Dr. Patrick Forte, lives in Pittsburgh. Patrick’s daughter, Amy Forte, who passed away at the age of 32, was Patsy and Mary’s great-granddaughter.  Amy was an advocate for women, children and animals.

Michael, son of Monongah drug store owner Patsy Forte and Mary Romino Forte, passed away in 2008.  

 

Michael’s sister is Mary Jo Forte Richards, Class of 1948, of Las Vegas, Nevada, who provided piano accompaniment for Leatrice Yokay Greaser, Class of 1950, on their Fairmont WMMS radio show in the 1950s. Leatrice lives in Fairmont.

 

Patsy and Mary are buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Fairmont. So are my parents, John W. Olesky, Sr. and Lena Olesky. My sister, Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, who lives in Rivesville, visits their graves regularly and tidies up the area around it.

But the memories of Forte Drug Store, houses in the Bloomberg Building built in 1910, will never die for the adults and children who thrived in that environment even though the structure was demolished a few years ago despite efforts to keep it as an historic landmark. “Historic” was the correct word for Forte Drug Store/Bloomberg Buiding.