John Matkovich, Class of 1948, who lived in Palm Harbor, Florida with wife Dolores Sweede Matkovich, Class of 1953, passed away.
Pete Basagic, Class of 1972, who had John as his godfather for
confirmation, reported the sad news. Pete’s
father Richard Basagic, Class of 1948, was on the 1947 Lions football team with
John.
John’s mother, Neda Matkovich, passed away in Palm Harbor in 2010 at the age of 103!
John’s brother Mike had sons Gregory and
Mark. Mark passed away in 2017. Greg married in 1974 and has 3 sons: Gregory, 45, Jonathan, 43, and Mark, 41.
Barbara Sweede, Dolores’ sister, passed away in 2017 after spending most of her life in Stoney Lonesome. I ran into Barbara a few years before she left this Earth at the Sinclair Service Station built by Angelo and Alex Catania after they returned from serving America in World War II, next to the former Lawrence Godby home and across the street from the Dairy Kone that Amelia Shenasky Zentz and husband Bruce Zentz built and operated for 18 years and has had a string of owners, Gary & Diane Masters, Sandra & Lloyd Parrish, currently Ashley Hunt Tennant.
Dolores’ other sibling, brother Tom Matkovich, lives in Westland, Michigan, which is 16 miles from Detroit and you can almost see the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Heights that borders Westland.
John started on offense with the 1947 Monongah High football
team that had Homer Delovich at quarterback, Bob Fox as the fearless fullback and
Chester Vozniak and Pete Condo also in the backfield.
On the offensive line were John at end, Louis DePond at tackle (and punter), Richard Basagic at guard, Jimmy Jacobin at center, Holloway Williams at guard, Gene Morris at tackle and Joe Argiro as the other end.
When I published an article on this Monongah High Alumni blog in
2016 about John wondering who on that 1947 team still was alive the answer was:
John, Gene Morris, in Bingamon Junction, and Jimmy Jacobin. That’s all.
Gene, who had moved to Enterprise, passed away in 2018. He also was a Fairmont State graduate and served in the Marines in the Korean War. His parents were Josephine and Earl Morris of Carolina.
No word on Jimmy’s status. Leo Jacobin, Class of 1933, passed away in 1998.
George Ross was the 1947 team’s coach and I was the team manager, which meant I got to toss their stinky uniforms into the wash. The side benefit was that one night after finishing my team manager chores I joined a couple of friends as we walked into Principal Paul Michael’s open door and opened the files with the class IQ test results. Surprise, I had the highest IQ in my Class of 1950, 140+ or “genius” category. I was so immature, though, that I finished 9th by graduation day, behind 8 people who had lower IQs but worked harder than me to earn climbing past me.
Gene was a foreman during his 43 years at Westinghouse/Philips in Fairmont and grew up in Idamay. His widow is Mary Jo Morris. Their children are Mike Morris of Morgantown, Gary Morris of Frederick, Maryland and Vicky Morris-Dueer of Irving, Texas. Gene’s siblings are Robert Morris of Idamay, Jeffrey Morris of Rivesville and, all deceased, Leatruce Morris, Ruth Keener, Kathleen Rumer and Paul Morris.
Homer was one of the top golfers in West Virginia, once in the final round of a state competition with Sam Snead in his group. Homer understandably wilted under the pressure and let his lead slip with an 80 while Slamming Sammy did what he always did, drive the ball a mile.
It was the putting yips that ended Snead’s career. He was Greenbrier golf course’s permanent attraction. Bigger than the underground safe haven built for Senators and members of Congress during World War II just in case they had to evacuate Washington, D.C.
As for John, who spent his childhood on Swisher Hill, his golfing abilities were second only to Homer. John was almost unbeatable at Green Hills Golf Club in Everson, West Virginia. Bob Kasper, Tony Eates and I, all Class of 1950, took a drubbing from John during a Monongah High Alumni golf outing as a prelude to the annual Alumni Banquet.
John and wife Dolores, married for 64 years (!), attended MORE THAN FIFTY of the annual Monongah High Alumni Banquets, the longest-running high school reunion in West Virginia. The 2022 Banquet, over Memorial Day weekend, will be the 99th such high school reunion. I can’t wait for 2023 and the Centennial Banquet!
John’s obituary notice, which spelled his name wrong twice then
got it right (I skipped the wrong spellings parts):
John Matkovich, 92 of Palm Harbor
Florida passed away March 1, 2022.
John is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Dolores.
He is also survived by his nephew Gregory (Sharon) Matkovich of Schwartz Creek,
MI, nieces Tammy Sinelli and Shelley (Mike) Baker both of Canton, MI as well
many great and great-great nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents George and Neda Matkovich, his brother
Michael and nephew Mark Matkovich.
John was born in Mount Clare, West Virginia and graduated from Monongah High
School. He served in the US Army from 1951-1953 and was a proud Alumnus of
Fairmont State University.
He loved to keep busy, he was an avid golfer, and loved woodworking, gardening
and a good fight with a broken lawn sprinkler.
Visitation
MAR 6. 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Curlew Hills Funeral Home
1750 Curlew Road
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
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