Phil Diamond, who joined the facetiously named Gang That Terrorized Marion County during our Marion maraudings, passed away Thursday, October 5.

Even though Phil was a Fairmont St. Peter’s High grad he was close friends with Bob “Satch” Kasper. Phil's parents, Ralph and Mary Diamond, lived in Monongah in the 1930s and later.

Phil’s grandparents, Tony and Maria D’Amico, lived next door to the Kaspers in what I call Frogtown but what Adam Michna calls Little Vegas.

It’s off U.S. 19 south of the Union Hall and you turn left onto the street near St. Barbara’s Nursing Home before you get to Swisher Hill.

Bob Kasper never heard his Willowood street area referred to as Frogtown or Little Vegas while growing up. I don’t know where I got the term. Or Adam, for that matter.

Once when Phil and Bob worked at Speedway Market during our teenage years, the Gang TTMC pulled up on the curb next to the market to await Bob and Phil leaving their job at the market to join us for beer and skinny-dipping in the river.

So many of us stole watermelons from Speedway that, when Bob opened the door to put the watermelon he actually paid for in the car, watermelons spilled out and rolled down the steep Speedway Avenue street.

We scrambled to recover our loot before we got caught with the purloined goodies.

Afterward, we got our usual gallon of draft beer in an empty jug we brought along for the purpose and headed for skinny-dipping, beer-drinking and watermelon-binging in the West Fork River.

Speedway Market still is in business at 1036 Speedway Avenue in Suite 3. That’s a Google Earth view of Speedway Market today in the photo montage.

At the 2015 Monongah High Alumni Reunion I saw Phil for the last time. He was working the tables (Phil and distributing food were a lifetime passion) and came over, sat down and we chatted as if we were teenagers again.

Another member of our “gang,” Tony Eates, Class of 1950, who lives in Fairmont, had a Thanksgiving reunion with Phil in North Carolina, where Phil was living then.

Phil’s brother, Joe Diamond, passed away in 2015 in Annapolis, Maryland. Phil and Joe have a sister, Antoinette. Joe served his country in Korea.

Adam Michna, who graduated from North Marion in 1980 after attending Monongah High for 3 years, Facebooked the sad news that tipped me off about Phil’s passing, ironically shortly after Bob Kasper left my Tallmadge, Ohio home following a 5-day visit the included two days of golf and a 13 1/2-hour Saturday watching WVU and other football on my TV set:

“His grandparents were Antonio ("Tony") and Maria or Mary (Manzo) D'Amico who lived in the stone house near Little Vegas in Monongah. His aunt Florence and uncle Jack lived there for many years until Jack married my aunt in 1973. I wish his wife Boots, his family and niece Judy Renaldo well. God Bless them.”

Jack Damico married Adam's aunt, Helen Michna, in 1973. Notice the spellings as Damico, D'Amico and Domico. Some family members often changed the name.

St. Peter got a good, but lively, one.

Phil’s obituary:

Philip John Diamond, 85, of Fairmont, WV died peacefully at home on Thursday, October 5, 2017. He was born on August 23, 1932 in Monongah, WV, son of Ralph and Mary Diamond.

“Pe Pe” as he was commonly referred to, graduated from St. Peter’s school and was a member at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. He worked at Speedway Market beginning at age 16 and enjoyed waiting on all of his customers to sell them the best produce in town. Whenever he wasn’t at Speedway Market, he enjoyed golfing, hunting and fishing with his friends and family.  In his retirement, he enjoyed being a faithful member of the Knights of Columbus #942 where he spent much of his time working Bingo, family dinners and playing bocce with his buddies.

He is survived by his loving wife, Bernice; five children, Chuck Norris and wife Valerie of Fairmont, Philip Mark Diamond and wife, Charise, of Las Vegas, NV, Diane Williams and husband, George, of Marlton, NJ, Rick Norris and Mary Williams of Collinsville, OK and Leisa Lackey and husband, Clint, of Charlotte, NC; 14 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; a sister, Antoinette Carney and husband Jim of Berea, OH; and an uncle, Chester D’Amico of Fairmont.  In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by his brothers, James, Joseph and Albert and his sister, Bernadine.

The family will receive friends at Domico Funeral Home, 414 Gaston Ave. in Fairmont on Sunday, October 8, 2017 from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, October 9, 2017 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens in Morgantown. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to WV Caring Hospice at 1406 Country Club Rd, Fairmont, WV 26554. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.domicofh.com .