SUSAN LOUISE 'WEEGIE' STARKEY PASSES AWAY

 

Susan Louise “Weegie” Starkey passed away Thursday, February 24.

Here’s a moving tribute to her mother by North Marion graduate Misty Starkey, who works at Lowe’s Home Improvement. I can’t do anything better than post it here. If I still were a newspaper editor as I was for 43 years then Misty would be my #1 reporter.

 

Misty’s tribute to Weegie:

 

Let ME tell you about my Momma.

 

My Momma’s story began on August 20, 1958. She was born in the back of a car, one of 17 children and the second to the oldest girl in her family.

 

She grew up in very tough times, and having 17 children, 12 that lived beyond early childhood,  was not easy for her parents.

 

Having very little, she and her oldest sister would take turns going to school because one  was needed at home to help rear the younger children and because they only had one pair of shoes between them.

She became a single mother at 16 to my brother, Jay. She met my dad in the middle of winter, at least a foot of snow on the ground and she was barefoot.

 

She later gave birth to me and Johnna and they adopted Jaylee. She loved her children and grandchildren more than life itself.

 

My mom was a very humble woman and taught us to treat everyone with love and kindness. Nobody was better than us, but we were certainly not better than anyone.

 

My mom befriended anyone and everyone throughout her short lifetime. She took in many of her siblings, nieces and nephews and anyone who needed a place to lay their heads.

 

Many of the people my mom took in had families who had given up on them but my mom always found it in her heart to help those in need. It was her life’s calling. We always joked and said she’d take in any stray.

She started her own business later in life. It was a little hole in the wall bar and grill. While business wasn’t always good, she absolutely loved that place and all of the people she got to see. She loved cooking for her friends and family. Often, she invited anyone to a hot meal on the holidays at no charge. She fed most of Mannington regularly out of the kindness of her heart.

 

She lost her 53-day hospitalization battle with Covid February 24, 2022. She was 63.

 

I’ll see you later, Momma.

 

John Olesky again: If you read that without tears gushing from your eyes then you don’t have the huge heart that Weegie had.

 

Weegie’s obituary:

 

Susan Louise “Weegie” Starkey, age 63 of Mannington, WV was called home to be with our Lord on Thursday, February 24, 2022 surrounded by her loving family. She was born August 20, 1958 in Four States, WV a daughter of the late Edith Jane (Markley) and James Brant Jones.

Weegie is survived by her loving husband of 45 years, John Dewayne Starkey; a son, James Brant Jones and significant other Amanda Starrett of Mannington; her daughters, Misty Sue Starkey and significant other Mitch Snider of Fairmont, Johnna Jane (Christopher) Moore of Metz, Katarina Lynn (Russell) Sendling of Clarksburg, and Jaylee Brooke Starkey, still living at home; and 17 grandchildren, Haley (Dean) Hadi, Cassandra Newport, Isabella Newport, Ethan Newport, Heidi Gidley, Christopher Moore, Gavin Moore, Emmie Moore, Gracie Moore, John Moore, Liam Moore, Bryson Satterfield, Adalynn Rose Jones, Brantley Jones, and step-granddaughter, Kennedy Starrett, Aaliyah Sendling and Airyonna Sendling; and one unborn great-grandson. She is also survived by four brothers, five sisters, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Weegie grew up in Four States and attended Monongah High School. She was a resident of Mannington her entire adult life. She was a Board Member of Mannington Main Street for several years and the co-founder of Mannington Matters.

She had a great love for her community and was considered a huge asset by all. She was the proud owner of Starkey’s Bar and Grill on Market Street in Mannington. She took great pride in her little business, many coming as strangers but left knowing they’d made a friend.

Weegie epitomized the saying “Never knew a stranger.” She welcomed all with open arms and with a loving heart, generous to a fault. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend. To know her was to know true strength, a beautiful loving soul, and a willingness to accept everyone without judgment.

In addition to her parents, Weegie was preceded in death by six siblings.

Family and friends may call at Masters Funeral Home in Mannington on Monday, February 28, 2022 from 2-8:00pm. Funeral services will be in the funeral home on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 1 p.m. with Minister Virginia Dorbeff officiating. Interment will follow at the Mannington Cemetery.

GOOD NEWS, LIONS: THE DEATH OF WALTER MOORE WAS GREATLY EXAGGERATED

 

“Tell everybody that I rose from the dead.”

That was former Monongah High student Walter Moore on the phone from Melbourne, Florida after I told him that I had published a 2015 article in this Monongah High Alumni blog that Sarge Shriver said he passed away in 2012.

I would never know that Walter is alive if Sherry VanMeter Nicholson, Class of 1965, didn’t have “West Virginia all over her jersey,” as Walter laughingly told me.

Sherry, who lives in Youngstown, was visiting Florida and having a meal at the Fish Bone Restaurant in Viera. She headed for the ladies room and heard “Hey, West Virginia!”

The voice was fellow diner Walter, who’s been at that restaurant “about 10 times,” definitely not dead, no matter what Sarge Shriver said in 2015.

Walter said to Sherry “I’m from a tiny town in West Virginia that you never heard of, Monongah.”

Sherry Nicholson said:

“I was with friends outside on the deck and went inside to go to the rest room and I had a West Virginia shirt on and he called out to me saying hey "West Virginia" and as usual I stopped and talked to them as you know we West Virginians don't know a stranger.”

Sherry told Walter: “I’m from Monongah.”

Sherry told me about the encounter. I called Walter and left a message. He called me “from the dead.”

Walter’s wife, Lottie, listened in on our phone call punctuated with laughter. Lottie is from Belton, Michigan, a small Detroit suburban area.

Walter and Lottie came to Florida in 1995 from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Walter had a service station and recreation vehicle business starting in 1960.

Walter started with the Class of 1955, but left without graduating to serve his country in the Korean War. He passed his GED test, which made him a high school graduate, after he got out of the service.

Walter and Lottie have four children: Jeffrey, Michael, Terri and Shannon, who provided 6 grandchildren that led to 1 great-grandchild so far.

It was Terri Gelman who sent me the photo of Walter and Lottie that you see here.

Martha Moore, Class of 1954, who married Pat Zecco, is Walter’s sister, who was “a very good singer,” according to the late children’s book author Linda Tomlinson

So, Sarge Shriver, you “kill” anyone else lately?

 

For those who missed the original story of Walter’s “death,” here it is:

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

The sad news about  Walter Moore, who started with Class of 1955

 

Otis “Sarge” Shaver, who lives in Monongah, provides sad news about Walter Moore, the object of Linda Tomlinson Stevenski’s search:

 

“Walter Moore was deceased a couple years back.”

 

Linda, one of Monongah’s children’s books authors, wrote:

 

“Does anyone know what happened to Walter Moore? He was from Carolina and would have graduated in '55 but he didn't pass one class.

 

“He had a sister named Martha who was a very good singer. I haven't seen him since graduation. We were good friends then.

 

“Does anyone know about him? 

 

"Linda Stevenski”

 

 

Thanks, Sarge. 

 

Sorry to hear what happened to Walter, though. 

 

And sorry you couldn’t join the 21 of us who made it to the Three Ways Inn reunion of Monongah High grads in Fairmont on Dec. 30. You missed a good time.

MONONGAH TRIO ON AWESOME NORTH MARION LADY HUSKIES BASKETBALL TEAM

 

Monongah girls on the 21-2 North Marion Lady Huskies Sectional Champions, who have lost only to Fairmont West and Nitro and put as much as a 50-point margin on their losing opponents, are sophomore Meya Kotsko, senior Sidney Megna and sophomore Cierra Parker.

In the sectional title game North Marion destroyed Wheeling Central Catholic, 82-45, with Olivia Toland leading the Lady Huskies scoring with 19 points. Addie Elliott had 17, Katlyn Carson 13.

North Marion against Hampshire County at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the regionals. Hampshire is in Augusta near Romney in the Eastern Panhandle.

#55 on uniform Cierra’s parents are Shawn and Colleen Parker. Her grandmother is Colette Stanley Melton. Shawn is a North Marion graduate living in Monongah and worked in Marion County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Postal Service. Retired.

#15 on uniform Sidney is Nick and Heather Megna’s daughter and Joe and June Megna’s granddaughter. She already has a scholarship waiting for her at Davis & Elkins College and plans to become a lawyer.

Sidney’s busy resume: West Virginia Girls State Governor, North Marion student body president, class president every year at NM, National Honor Society vice president, volunteer peer tutor, Student Leader Club member, Page Turners book club founder, Husky Helpers community service club volunteer for Marion County Special Olympics, Salvation Army Angel Tree and Haught’s Chapel Church Youth Group, lettered 3 years on North Marion varsity basketball. When does she find time to sleep?

 

Meya Kotsko, a guard who wears #24, is the daughter of Frankie and Stephanie Vandetta and the granddaughter of Frank and Brenda Vandetta of Monongah.

Meya works at the Rusty Crab when she isn’t playing basketball. Meya and Cierra hang out together a lot.

Marcia Michalski Westfall, Class of 1974, added:

Anisa Pavich from Hutchinson is on that team, too. She went through Monongah Middle and is the daughter of the late Luke Pavich and Lisa Pavich. I had Anisa in Kindergarten at Monongah Elementary. Sidney Megna, too.

MICHELLE PLUTRO'S MOTHER, MARY IDA PLUTRO, THE CAKE LADY, PASSES AWAY

 

Mary Ida Plutro, mother of Michelle Plutro, 1 of 38 named to the Monongah High Favorite Teacher Honor Roll I published today, passed away Thursday in Fairmont.

Born Maria Italia Mezzanotte in 1930 to Minnie D’Amico Mezzanotte and Nick Mezzanotte, she was married for 73 years to John K. Plutro.

Being Italian of course she was a magnificent baker, as was my mother born in Pellizzano, Italy who came to America at the age of 9. Mary Ida baked hundreds of cakes over the decades. As a teen she honed her baking talents at Gloria’ Nut Shop, Bernardo’s Baker and Select Pastries in Fairmont.

Mary Ida gave decorating demonstrations at Fairmont State and in Marion County high schools.

Naturally her daughter Michelle Plutro taught home economics at Monongah High. Like mother, like daughter. Wonder if Mom showed Michelle’s home ec students who to whip up a fanastic cake?

How did Italia become Ida? Probably the folks at Ellis Island’s fault. When my Nona landed in New York with her 3 children who were 7, 8 and 10, my mother who was Guerrina when she boarded the Italian ship in Genoa became Lena by the time the Ellis Island folks, who couldn’t under Italian, wrote it down. I have the Ellis Island paperwork to prove it.

Her older sister, Gisella in Italy, became Gezala in America. At least the pronunciation didn’t change.

Mary Ida’s obituary:

Mary ‘Ida’ Plutro, 91,beloved spouse and loving mother passed away on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at Guardian Rehabilitation in Fairmont following a brief stay for complications of surgery.

She was born Maria Italia Mezzanotte on April 27, 1930 in Fairmont. She is the daughter of the late Nick and Minnie D’Amico Mezzanotte.

She is the devoted spouse of John K. Plutro, whom she married on August 23, 1948. During their 73 years together they enjoyed family time and many celebrations.

Friends and relatives will remember Ida as a kind and generous person, as the ultimate baker, and cake decorator of beautiful, unique birthday cakes, anniversary cakes, and wedding cakes.  She baked hundreds of them over decades. Some will remember Ida as a lector at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church or St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and an active member of various church groups.

She first learned her baking and decorating skills as a teen, working at Gloria’s Nut Shop, Bernardo’s Bakery and later at Select Pastries in Fairmont. She would periodically offer decorating demonstrations at Fairmont State College and in home economics classes at area high schools.

Ida is survived by her husband, John; the couple’s two daughters Denise Plutro and Michele Plutro of Fairmont; granddaughter Nicole Amendola; two great grandsons Isaiah Amendola and Noah Waites. She is survived by her brother, Nick Mezzanotte, Jr. and his wife CheChe, and sister-in-law Virginia Cameon Mezzanotte. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents she is preceded in death by one granddaughter D’Andrea Amendolea, brother Pat Mezzanotte, one sister and brother-in-law Antoinette (Harry) Mezzanotte Adams all of Fairmont.

Family and friends may call at Ross Funeral Home 801 Fairmont Avenue Fairmont on Monday from 3-8:00 P.M. The Catholic Funeral Liturgy will be Celebrated on Tuesday March 1, 2022 at 10:00 A.M. at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Watson with Fr. Vincent Joseph as Celebrant. Interment will follow at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

A Vigil service will be held at the funeral home Monday evening at 7:30 P.M.

Condolences may be sent to www.rossfh.com.

MONONGAH HIGH FAVORITE TEACHERS HONOR ROLL FOR THOSE WHO GUIDED US TO A BETTER LIFE

 

NAME YOUR FAVORITE MONONGAH HIGH TEACHER ... AND TELL ME WHY!

 

Who was YOUR favorite Monongah High teacher?

My favorite teacher, as everyone knows, is Mary Turkovich, who taught me math the first year, algebra the second year and geometry the third year and the value of math and discipline in my life every minute I was in her class.

I was Class of 1950. I know, dinosaurs roamed the earth that long ago.

What about your favorite teacher?

Debbie Bearden Hines called Rose Matthews Illich “my favorite teacher.”

Cindy Collins said “She was my favorite teacher at North Marion High.”

I’d like to publish a Monongah High Alumni blog article about My Favorite Teacher. Help me out.

 

Tell me your favorite teacher, what subject she or he taught, and why you made the selection and your graduation year.

It would be GREAT if you could provide me a photo of your favorite teacher. Even better if you have photo of your favorite teacher with YOU.

You can be my reporter.

You can reply to John Olesky Facebook page or email your answer, reasons and photo to jo4wvu@neo.rr.com 

If you don’t reply then I’ll erase your name from the blackboard. LOL

John Olesky, Class of 1950

Who visits Mary Turkovich’s grave EVERY time he comes to Monongah, puts a rose on her grave and says, “Thank you.”

Miss Turkovich math made me financially secure. Her discipline made me into a mature adult. My daughter is a teacher in an Aurora, Ohio school. She’s a legend there.

I call LaQuita “The Mary Turkovich of Aurora Schools.”

It’s the highest compliment I can give a teacher. After all, they are shaping the generation that will be running this country in a few decades.

 

 

BEN GANDY, CLASS OF 1962, PASSES AWAY

Ben Gandy, Class of 1962, passed away. His obituary mistakenly says Class of 1963 but Jim Gandy, his brother, confirmed that Ben was in the Class of 1962 after I saw in my MHS graduation lists that he was in Class of 1962 class and found Ben’s senior photo is the 1962 Monongah High Black Diamond yearbook.

 

Jim Gandy, Class of 1964, lives in Gainesville, Florida with wife Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965. Linda is president of the Monongah High Alumni Association and Jim is on the board of that group.

Ben played football at Monongah High. He also was on the seniors team that won the 1962 MHS class tournament in basketball and was on his junior class team when it participated a year earlier.

Jim Gandy told me:

“Some of my memories were growing up in Monongah. Lot of good lessons in life at an early age. Also vacations with our parents and going swimming n Coal Hole,” and I did along with many Monongah High guys and girls.

Coal Hole was SO deep that I NEVER touched bottom, even off the board in the cliff about 30 feet above the water. Coal Hole was created after coal was gouged out of the ground.

If I got poison ivy, which was often, my mother, Lena Futten Olesky, would send me to Coal Hole for a treatment. There was so much Sulphur in the water that it dried up my poison ivy in a few days, every time. It worked better than calamine lotion. And it was free!

Jim has another unforgettable moment:

“We were all up 63 Mine bridge swinging on a pipe rope. It came back, hit me on the eye, cut it and Ben put me on our bike’s handlebars and took me to Dr. Bressler (Consolation Coal’s company doctor) for stitches.

“Ben, me and our friends would go to Mill Dam before Easter every year and skinny dip. Man, was that water cold!”

Bob Skinny Kenney, from Youngstown although he lives in Buford, Georgia after graduating from Youngstown’s Ursuline High and Youngstate State, posted:

“Ben had a strong will to live. No more pain and suffering. He is in a great place now.”

After I asked Bob for more information he replied:

“I met Jim first. We worked at Morgantown Machine together. I met Ben a short time after when he worked for Consol Coal Company. Great family.”

Ben’s obituary:

Benjamin Anthony Gandy

December 30, 1944 - February 8, 2022

Benjamin Anthony Gandy, 77 of Fairmont, passed away on February 8, 2022 at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, WV. He was born December 30, 1944 in Clarksburg, WV, a son of the late Harold R. and Rose Mary Marra Gandy. Ben is survived by his wife of 54 years, Linda L. Wilson Gandy.

Ben was a 1963 graduate of Monongah High School. He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Shafter in Honolulu, Hawaii. After his military service, Ben attended Fairmont State College and graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Business and Accounting.

 

Ben retired from Consolidation Coal Company (Consol) with over 35 years of service as a Senior Buyer. He was a member of Gateway United Methodist Church where he had served on the SPRC committee and the United Methodist Men. Ben loved the outdoors, especially trout fishing and hunting.

In addition to his wife, Ben is survived by his son, Benjamin Wilson and his wife Andrea Gandy of Washington, PA, his three grandchildren, Jarrett, Faith, and Kayla Gandy. His brothers, Robert and his wife Margita Gandy of Richmond, VA, and James and his wife Linda Gandy of Gainesville, FL.

The family has entrusted the arrangements to Ford Funeral Home, 201 Columbia Street, Fairmont, WV. Private services will be held within the funeral home with Reverend Jim Zinn officiating. A graveside committal service to follow at Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens in Westover, WV. The Marion County Veterans Council will provide graveside military rites. Online condolences may be made to www.fordfuneralhomes.com . 

KAREN SUE PARRISH, CLASS OF 1960, PASSES AWAY.

 

Karen Sue Parrish, Class of 1960, passed away Tuesday, February 8. She was 79 and lived in Bellevue.

Her parents were James Fleming Parrish and Isabell Knoble Parrish. Linda Nobel-Carr, Class of 1967, widow of former Monongah Town Councilman Sanford Carr, is Karen’s cousin.

Linda told me: “She loved all animals, she loved to walk through the woods exploring, she was an outdoor girl for sure.

“Karen and I would walk a lot of times to the old Monongah mines. She showed me where they kept the horses and mules, then we would go up to Number 63 mines.”

Prudence Dean Tetrick Funk, Karen’s friend for 74 years, agreed with Linda that Karen was “an avid horse lover.”

And that Karen enjoyed antiques, the outdoors and nature.

Bob Kasper, in the Class of 1950 with me, and I have been friends since we showed up at the first day of class at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Monongah. That’s EIGHTY FOUR YEARS AGO!

I’ve visited Bob, or Satch as we called him during our teen years because he always wore a cap like Huntz Hall, who played Sach (we weren’t perfect on get names spelled right those days) on “The Bowery Boys” and “East Side Kids” TV series.

At his South Lyon, Michigan home in the Detroit suburbs and at his summer home on Grand Lake with the WVU flag flying all the time, which is in Presque Isle just 2 miles from Lake Huron.

And Satch visited me at my Cuyahoga Falls and current Tallmadge home in Ohio (I moved 2 miles when my wife passed away in 2004, in 2006 when former Akron Beacon Journal co-worker Paula Stone Tucker and I bought a condo together during our 17-year relationship.

Satch and I sat together in Mountaineer Field with my sister, Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, who lives in Rivesville. And ran into each other while vacationing in Florida.

Bob and Jackie were the godparents of my older daughter, LaQuita, a long-time teacher in the Aurora Schools in Ohio who I call “the Mary Turkovich of Aurora” because LaQuita has the same determination to make her students learn that Miss Turkovich did.

When I visit Monongah I put roses on Miss Turkovich’s grave in Mount Carmel Cemetery and say “Thank you.” The math, algebra and geometry she taught me over 3 years, along with her discipline that refused to let her students NOT learn, served me well after my graduation from West Virginia University School of Journalism and a joyous and successful 43-newspaper career at the Morgantown Dominion-News, Williamson Daily News and Charleston Daily Mail in West Virginia, the St. Petersburg Times in Florida and the Dayton Daily News and Akron Beacon Journal (for the final 26 years) in Ohio.

 

But I digress.

I’ll let Prudy tell you HER story about how she met Karen and their friendship grew and grew, just like Bob and I did:

“I met her when I was visiting with my Grandparents. They lived across the street from the Shenaskys. She lived at the bottom of the hill in the apartments beside the Shenaskys’ barn (on U.S. 19 that housed their products till they brought into or out of the P.P. Shenasky Grocery across the street).

“She came up and introduced herself. That was in 1948. We stayed friends ever since.

“We were always together. We went horseback riding on weekends. Hiked, played with cutouts, colored in coloring books, collected pictures of movie stars and put them in scrapbooks.

“We had a lot of fun back then. After we started high school, we walked to school and walked home together. We were always together.

“My grandparents built a house on their property and my family moved into it. That's why we were so close to Karen.

"I moved to Baltimore after I graduated and she got a boyfriend and we were apart for a while but I came back to Monongah and always made it a point to see Karen."

“Larry Keith (also in the Class of 1960 and whose senior photo is next to Prudy’s because they are in alphabetical order) is my cousin. Donald was his dad.”

 

Karen’s children are Rheba Dinardi of Morgantown, Jason Pethtel of Moundsville and predeceased Lennie R. Pethtel and Donovia Pethtel.

Karen’s Monongah Black Diamond yearbook credits include a fashion show.

Mary Fleming Toothman, Class of 1960, who grew up in Lisbon, Ohio but lives in Venice, Florida today, visited Karen in Monongah.

Mary told me “It’s always hard to lose a longtime friend. Remember her as always being a very sweet, quiet person.”

Earl W. “Buck” Parrish, Jr., Class of 1955, of Louisville, Ohio came to the 2005 and 2006 annual Monongah High Alumni Banquets but he’s not listed in the obituary so he’s probably not a relative.

The parents of Buck, who passed away in 2009, were Earl Parrish, Sr. and Edith L. Brown Parrish. Buck’s widow is Phyllis Parrish, living in Columbus.

Buck died in an auto accident and donated his liver, eyes, lungs and tissue to the living to make their lives better after he passed away.

Domico Funeral Home, founded by the late Monongah High graduate Dave Domico who grew up 3 doors away from my Church Street home when I was about his age, is handling Karen’s arrangements.

Karen’s obituary:

Karen Sue Parrish, 79, of Fairmont, passed away, Tuesday, February 8, 2022. She was born in Fairmont on December 10, 1942, the daughter of the late James Fleming Parrish and Isabell Knoble Parrish.

Karen enjoyed antiques, the outdoors and nature.

Karen is survived by her children, Rheba Dinardi and her husband Pete of Morgantown, and Jason Pethtel and his wife Kimberly of Moundsville; grandchildren, Stephanie Lee, Justine Shaffer, Keirstin Dinardi-Trapp, and Jacob Shaffer; and several other grandchildren, great grandchildren, family, and friends.

In addition to her parents, Karen was preceded in death by two children, Lennie R. Pethtel and Donovia Pethtel; and a granddaughter, Jessica Lee.

Arrangements are under the care of Domico Funeral Home in Fairmont. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.domicofh.com .