Fred DeMary passes away

Fred DeMary, son of Rivesville DeMary’s Market founder Pete DeMary, passed away Tuesday, June 26.

Fred, 95, was Pete's last surviving child.  

Domico Funeral Home is handling Fred's arrangements.

Bill Meredith, Class of 1957, has a memory that sums up Fred perfectly:

 “I was saddened to see that Fred DeMary had passed away. Many people don’t remember that Fred had a grocery store in Monongah on Bridge Street at the end of the Ford Street sidewalk. This was after his father, Pete, had closed his store on the Bridge Street curve, near Fred’s store.

“Fred was a really nice person who never met a stranger. During the early 50’s, he volunteered to coach our basketball team at East Monongah Grade School. As you might expect, we got to know Fred very well.

“Sometime in the late 50’s, Fred closed his store in Monongah and began working in the family business in Rivesville. My wife and I left West Virginia in 1961 and, although I often thought of him, I never saw Fred again until the late 90’s, almost 40 years later.

“I was visiting my sister, Patty, in Fairmont and asked her if Fred DeMary was still in Rivesville. She said she thought he was still there, working in DeMary’s Market. I talked her into going with me to see him. I walked into the store alone, since I didn’t want Fred to see Patty and spoil the surprise. As I approached the counter, where Fred was standing, I said, ‘I’ll bet you don’t know who I am.’ Without saying a word, he turned around and picked up a picture, which was sitting on a shelf behind him, and handed it to me. The picture was of our East Monongah basketball team.

“I was blown away. After all those years, he not only remembered me, but remembered and cherished his time as our coach so much that he kept our picture in his ‘office’ at the store. That’s the kind of man Fred DeMary was.

 “I feel I’ve lost a very dear friend.”

Pete DeMary opened up the Rivesville DeMary's Market in 1938. Sons Fred, John, Joe and Leo helped run the market till Pete retired and Fred and wife Mary Jane took over.

In 1991, they turned it over to Richard DeMary, one of their five children, but continued to help out.

John June DeMary was in the Class of 1937 at Monongah High. Ann DeMary Eates, Class of 1945, married to Joe Eates, also Class of 1945, and living in Monongah are his cousins.

John and Mary Louise Martin DeMary’s children are Michael and John Robert DeMary.

After Mary Louise’s passing, John June married Regina Sue Hickman Dulin.

Other DeMarys at Monongah High included:

John DeMary, Class of 1928

Rose Ann DeMary Flore, Class of 1933.

 

Virginia DeMary, Class of 1941.

Frank DeMary, Jr., Class of 1947.

Anthony DeMary, Jr., Class of 1950.

Virginia DeMary Rossi, Class of 1953.

Patti DeMary Evans, Class of 1972.

Kim DeMary Clowers, Class of 1979.

Mike DeMary, Class of 1974.

Betty Anne DeMary, Class of 1979.