I like to take old school photos and try to find out where those students are today, using recent pictures to update what they look like as adults.

The 1975 6^th grade class at Thoburn Elementary popped up, thanks to Chris Martin, Monongah’s No. 1 photographer.

Jaimie Feltz Riley was the first name that caught my eye. Jaimie, only 50 when she passed away in 2014 from multiple sclerosis,  was the daughter of Betty Wilson Feltz and the late, great Monongah High state championship (1952, 1955) football coach Jim Feltz and the sister of 1973 Monongah High state football champs quarterback Jay Feltz and long-time Monongah Middle School math teacher Jon Pat Feltz.

Jaimie has two sons, Jayce Riley and Andrew Sestito, both of Fairmont.

 

Jaimie and Jay’s brother, Jon Pat Feltz, shares a home in Fairmont with their mother, Betty, who grew up as the daughter of a banker and was a Monongah High majorette who married the football coach shortly after her graduation.

 

Jason Patrick Feltz, 30, was the son of Coach Jay and his wife, Beth -- and Jim & Betty’s grandson. The Eastside quarterback who played in South Carolina’s annual North-South high school all-star game with former University of South Carolina punter Jay as his coach  passed away in Sapphire, South Carolina.

 

Jason’s sister, Jody Elizabeth Feltz, died in 2010 at age 25 of brain cancer. She was an Olympics torch bearer through South Carolina in 2001 and Hillcrest High Homecoming queen in 2002. She was diagnosed at age 17.

 

There was a Feltz responsible for the first (1952, Coach Jim) and last (1973, QB Jay) of the five Monongah High state football titles. 

Mindy Goush Tossone lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her daughter, Spencer, is an excellent player on her Virginia Commonwealth University field hockey team.

Mike Griffey is a North Marion grad and Air Force veteran who lives in Monongah.

Larry Chickerell, who once lived in Kilarm, resides in Manassas, Virginia.

Paula Yanero Bowers lives in Franklin, West Virginia and is a graduate of Salem University in West Virginia.
 Ron Dale Devores worked at Northcutt and is married.

Jim Sloan is married and living in Monongah and is a graduate of Pierpoint Community and Technical College on Locust Avenue in Fairmont.

Tim Shaver graduated from Fairmont East, lives in Fairmont and is a truck driver for Quality Reclamation Services.

If you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of the others, including Thoburn principal Jeffrey Madigan, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and I’ll add your information to this article.