Dr. John Louis DePond, Class of 1948, of the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Missouri, passed away Tuesday, August 11.

Monongah High students knew him as Louie, their senior class president, and remember when new teacher Joann Timmins, fresh out of college and my class’ advisor that year which set a lot of male hearts thumping, and Louie were making eyes at each other. It wasn’t that big an age difference and it wasn’t treated the way it is now.

About that same era, the late Coach Jim Feltz, besides bringing state football titles to Monongah in 1952 and 1955, married Betty Lynn Wilson Feltz, Class of 1954, a majorette and the daughter of Monongah Bank chief Fay Wilson and wife Dorothy, as soon as she graduated from Monongah High. That worked out great, with three remarkable children.

Louie also was secretary-treasurer of the letterman’s club. He earned his stripes in football and basketball.

In 2013 Louie was driving on Park Road 22 when an 11-year-old girl who had just been raped by a 19-year-old while his two teenage friends held her down ran in front of his car. The Corpus Christi, Texas rapist was given a long jail term. The trio blamed their dastardly actions on drugs.

Class of 1948 members that I hear from include Nathaleen Cameon Oliverio of East Chicago, Indiana; Nick Fiori, who lives in Fairmont; John Matkovich, who lives in Palm Harbor, Florida with wife Dolores Sweede Matkovich, Class of 1953; Connie Bonasso Rogers, Class of 1948, widow of Carroll Rogers; Benn Morgan, a retired music teacher and organist/choir director of the Old Durham Church near LaPlata, Maryland; Betty Hensley Lowther, who lives in Pompano Beach, Florida; Mary Lee Hertzog Gwinn, who lives in Rockville, Maryland with husband E.J. Gwinn; Mary Jo Forte Richards, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, and who provided piano accompaniment for Leatrice Yokay Greaser, Class of 1950, on their Fairmont WMMS radio show in the 1950s; June Paxton Rogers, life-long friend of the late Frances Savereno Pulice; Otis “Sarge” Shaver, who lives on Old Monongah Road and is the brother of Jim Shaver, Class of 1954; and Suzanne Barr Loss, widow of Arnold “J.B.” Loss, Class of 1947, who lives in Mill Fall.

They are two years older than me, so that makes them a very hardy group.

Louie’s obituary:

Dr. John L. DePond, 85, passed away peacefully on the afternoon of Tuesday (Aug. 11, 2015) after battling cancer for several years.

John was born March 5, 1930, in Monongah, the fourth child and second son of Pete DePond and Mary Carmella Fazio.

John grew up in the coal-mining town of Monongah. He graduated from West Virginia University in Morgantown. He attended dental school at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. After dental school, he served in the Navy at Parris Island, South Carolina. He later moved back to St. Louis and ran a successful dental practice for more than 40 years.

He was an avid golfer and was gracious to all who played with him.

John was preceded in death by his father and mother; his brother, Frank J. DePond; sister, Christine Harr; and son, Dr. Robert W. DePond.

John is survived by his wife, Patricia Trott DePond; sons, John R. DePond and William D. DePond; daughters, Carolyn Heidenreich and Deborah Palumbi; his brother, Pete J. DePond (sister-in-law Flora Ann); and his sister, Margaret Meffe. He is also survived by grandchildren, cousins, nephew and nieces of the DePond and Fazio families.

John will be laid to rest on Sept. 7 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in the Columbarium, Building C.

After reading about Louie's passing on this blog, Marylee Hertzog Gwinn, Class of 1948, who lives in Rockville, Maryland, wrote:

“I was sorry to read about Louie dying but glad to read his obituary. I haven't heard anything about him since high school. Strange how people just seem to disappear.”

Marylee is the widow of E. Joseph Gwinn, Class of 1942, who died in 1991. Their daughter, Nancy, is a school psychology professor at Messiah College who met her husband at Fairmont State. Marylee’s brother, Dick Hertzog, Class of 1943, a WVU chemical engineering graduate, passed away in 2005.

Their father, Virgil H. Hertzog, owned and operated Hertzog Drug Store in Worthington for decades, until 1972 when the family moved to Fairmont. The children worked in the store.

 

Dad also patiently typed out his own newspaper, the Worthington News, using the two-fingers method. Papa Hertzog lived to be 102 and Mama Hertzog reached 100.