Dennis Basnett, Class
of 1962 and a Fairmont State grad, mailed me copies of 50th
anniversary reunions by the Class of 1932 in 1982 and the Class of 1938 in
1988.
What a find!
First name I spotted, of course, was Helen
Olesky Kerekes, Class of 1932, sister of my father, John W. Olesky, Sr. who
lived on Church Street with my mother, childhood immigrant from Italy in 1920
Lena Futten Olesky, and Frances Fazio Olesky, who married Renzy Fazio.
Aunt Helen was married to Steve Kerekes,
whose sister, Clara Kerekes Yuhas, once had a boarding house for miners on one
of the steep street hills of Carolina after her husband, Andrew Yuhas, passed
away. Her daughters were Irene Yuhas Ice, Class of 1946, who married Guy H.
Ice, Jr.; Clara “Tunney” Yuhas Kniceley, Class of
1944, who married Jimmy Kniceley; and Elizabeth “Liz” Yuhas Dudash, who married
Andy Dudash.
Both Irene and her sister, Tunney, once had a thing for
the musical Vingle boys during their Monongah High days. Tunney set her sights
on Raymond Vingle and Irene dated Anthony “Bugs” Vingle, who later married Mary
Martha Cavrich Vingle.
Aunt Helen’s major claim to fame was the Christmas cookies
she baked. They were astounding! Helen used to mail Christmas cookies to me
after I moved to Ohio long after I left West Virginia. I looked forward to the
luscious Yule tasties every year.
Because 1932 and 1938 were so long ago and they all were
years old, give or take a year, most of those in the two photos have passed
away. But, thanks to this photo, not forgotten.
In Class of 1932 photo for 50th
anniversary reunion in 1982:
Mary Eleanor Talbott Wilson
Gayle Birdine Talbott
Eva Mae Brown, class advisor
Ted M. Tureffs, class sponsor
Mary Manzo Hinerman
Katherine Shaver Sturm
Helen Olesky Kerekes
Catherine Tiano Fabian
Josephine Smolovich Jarusko Urban
Virginia May Lee Kisner
Roy G. Basnett
Fred Jones
Ray Morgan
George Shelosky
In Class of 1938 photo for 50th
anniversary reunion in 1988:
Clarence Bradley, Jr.
Quintin Farrance
Thomas Ammons
Loretta Lee Malcolm
Caroline Corbin Brown Suplita
Helen Heltzel Hay
Doris Jean Menear Basnett
Nellie Demus Bailey
Julia Osco Shaver
Eva Mae Brown, class advisor
Dennis Basnett’s interest, of course,
was over both his mother, Doris Jean Menear Basnett, and father, Roy Basnett,
being in the two 50th anniversary MHS 50th anniversary
reunion photos.
Doris was 100 years old and still living
in Worthington – she was born in Bingamon Junction, Worthington to Charles
Edward Menear and Grace Ella Bell Menear -- when she passed away in 2020. After
graduating from Fairmont State worked for Monongahela Power Company, took time
out to have children and raise a family, then became manager of Hickory Farms
in the Middletown Mall. Doris and Roy were married 61 years.
Doris
and Roy’s children – all Monongah High graduates -- are Dennis, of course,
Class of 1962; Thomas Basnett, Class of 1960, of Lumberport; Carlton
Basnett, Class of 1965, of Fairmont; Jack Basnett, Class of 1969, of Denver,
Colorado; and Michael Basnett, Class of 1975, of Worthington. Doris’ siblings were Frank Menear, Charles Menear Jr.,
George Menear, William Menear and A. Marguerite Menear Thomas.
Doris was president of the Marion County Democrat Women's
Association, member of the Marion County Democrat Executive Committee, was
inducted into the West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women Hall of Fame in
1997 and was Marion County Democrat of the Year in 1998.
As for Roy Basnett, who passed away in 2019, his parents were Evelena Bock Basnett and William E.
Basnett and Roy’s siblings were Tom Basnett, Dennis Basnett, Carlton Basnett,
Charles Jackson Basnett, Class of 1969, and Michael Basnett.
Dennis’ sister, Debbie Elaine Rutherford Basnett, Class of 1975, passed
away in 2019. Debbie was a
caregiver at the Old Folks senior facility and a Fairmont State graduate.
Basnetts
have been around Marion County a LONG time -- before 1849, when the
Basnettville Post Office (renamed Basnett Post Office in 1880) was established.
The Basnett family had a store in Basnettville. The Post Office closed in 1903. Saint John’s Cemetery, next to the church, is sometimes referred to as
Basnettsville Cemetery because Samuel Basnett donated the land for the cemetery.
Nellie
Demus Bailey was in one of the most famous in Worthington. She passed away at
the age of 101 in 2018. Her parents were Nick Demus, Sr. and Theresa Elizabeth
Puccio Demus.
Nellie’s
siblings are Michael “Mickey” Demus, Class of 1948; Jim Demus, Class of 1954;
Larry Demus; Nick Demus, Jr., Class
of 1945; Rose Demus Argiro, Class of 1941, who married Larry Argiro; Joan
Demus, Class of 1941; Theresa Demus, in my Class of 1950; and Madalaine Demus
Schram, Class of 1941. Nick, Jim and Mickey played football for
Monongah High.
Nellie was the only Demus sibling without a
high school and college education. She dropped out after eighth grade because,
she once said, “We were poor and there were no school buses at that time.”
Rose was married for 69 years to Larry Argiro, one-time
owner of Country Club Bakery which invented the pepperoni roll now famous as
the official food of West Virginia, who passed away in 2017.
Nellie moved
from Zionsville, Indiana to join Nick in 1950 to start the Demus Kety Market at
263 Main Street in Worthington. They worked together for 55 years till the
market closed in 2009. Nellie was featured on NBC’s “Today,” show,
where Al Roker continued Willard Scott’s tradition of recognizing viewers
turning age 100.
As for George Shelosky, there are a passel of Shelosky’s
in Monongah history. George’s brother was Stanley “Strob” Shelosky, the late superb golfer at Green
Hills who built up his body by laying bricks and cinder blocks for home
foundations. Strob was married to Julia
Lazorick Shelosky. Their children are Becky Shelosky Carvillano, Class of 1961, who lives in
Fairmont, and Tom Shelosky, who lives in Monongah. Julia passed away in 2013, Strob in 1993.
Mary Eleanor Talbott
Wilson, born in Gypsy in 1914 to Anna McGraw Talbott and John Franklin Talbott,
grew up on Chieftan Hill, after Monongah High graduated from Fairmont State
College where she met star athlete Wilford Russell “Squibb” Wilson. They eloped
in 1940 and were married in Virginia Beach, Virginia. From 1939 to 1976 Squibb
was athletic director, football, basketball and baseball coach at Fairmont
State. He coached the Falcons to TEN West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference baseball titles, was named Baseball Coach of the Year for the
Eastern United States in 1967, coached Fairmont State to two WVIAC basketball
championships and the West Virginia Sportswriters Association named him to
their Hall of Fame in 1987. He also served three separate terms in the West
Virginia House of Delegates.
Mary taught first
grade at Barnes Elementary for 21 years. In 2000 Mary was named Outstanding
Alumni by Fairmont State. Mary established the Squibb Wilson Memorial
Scholarship Fund for a Fairmont State athlete. Her siblings were James, Thomas
and John Talbott, Julia Talbott Midkiff and A. Jean Talbott. Mary was 95 when
she passed away.
Helen Heltzel Hay
was married to Harry “Buck” Hay. Their son, David Lynn “Captain America” Hay, Class
of 1969, who passed away in 2006 in Conway, South Carolina and also graduated
from Fairmont State. He taught art in Monongah for three years before moving to
Myrtle Beach in the 1980s. He owned Captains Custom Creations in Conway.
Helen’s sister,
Betty Jean Heltzel, Class of 1941, was 96 when she passed away in 2020. Their
parents were Virgil Glenn Heltzel and Edith Irene Bradley Heltzel.
Virginia May Lee Kisner was born
in Monongah to Charles Edgar Lee and Georgia Ellen Davis Lee. She was married
to Richard Dennis Kisner for 68 years. She once wrote the Monongah News column for
the Fairmont Times, as I did when I was a student at Monongah High. Her
children were Margie
Kisner Cain of Vinton, Virginia, Carol Kisner Reese of Fairmont who married
Chuck Reese, Etta Lynn Kisner Slack of Morgantown, Donald R. Kisner of Fairmont
and Dennis Keith Kisner of Fairmont.
Clarence Bradley, Jr., who passed
away in 2015 at the age of 94, was a son of Clarence F. and Virginia
Catherine VanMeter Bradley. He served in India, Alaska and throughout America
in the Army Air Corps. He spent 37 years in the Monongahela Power Company’s
engineering division in Fairmont. He out-lived both wives, Mary Olive Harris
Bradley, who passed in 1987, and Myrtle Greene Bradley, who passed in 2010.
His children are Michael Bradley of Parker, Pennsylvania, Jeffrey
Bradley of Fairmont and Pamela Basnett of Fairmont. His siblings are Kenneth
Eugene Bradley and Nancy L. Mason.
Earldelene Loretta Malcolm passed away at the age of 89 in 2009. Her
parents were Marvin Early Lee and Beaulah Jane Jackson Lee. She was the widow
of Herbert Wilson. Loretta’s son is Wilson Sterling Malcolm of Falls Church,
Virginia. Her siblings are George William Lee, James Lee, Eleanor Mae Angelilli,
Helen Jean Sturm, Susie Inabinet, Robert Earl Lee, Arlene Leona Straight and
Mary Virginia Barta.
She also graduated from Fairmont Business College and was one of the
first employees of the Small Business Administration in Clarksburg and a member
of the Coon’s Run Baptist Church.
