Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS FOR MONONGAH HIGH LIONS
Saundra Joyce Viney Ross, Class of 1968, will be among the
December Lions having birthdays. Hers is December 8.
She is retired in Columbia, South Carolina and living with
her husband of 48 years, Dan Ross, a Fairmont West graduate.
Joyce retired from Fairmont State and Dan from Fairmont General
Hospital.
Their son, Michael, graduated from Fairmont West ande Fairmont
State. Their daughter, Jennifer, graduated from Fairmont West and Newberry
College in South Carolina. After Newberry, Jennifer got a job in Columbia, met
and married her husband and they still are living in Columbia.
So does the entire family, including 8 grandchildren.
Monongah High alumni birthdays:
December
2 – Adam Michna, 1980 North Marion
graduate
2 -- Mareia
Wilmouth McDougal, Class of
1964
3 – Goldie Mae Martin, Class of 1964
4 – Ronald Pearse, Class of 1961
4 – Jay Michalski, 1980 North Marion
graduate
5 – Duane Harbert, Class of 1951
5 – Frances Victor Eates, Farmington
grad, wife of Larry Dan Eates, Class of 1970
6 – Goldie Basagic Huffman, Class of
1974
8 – Saundra Joyce Viney Ross, Class of
1948
8 – Brenda Urban, Class of 1971
10 – Richard Weaver, Class of 1957
11 – Paulette Colanero O’Connor, Class
of 1966
13 – Otis “Sarge” Shaver, Class of 1948
14 – Bev Morgan Colisino, Class of 1974
15 -- Paula Rossi Riley, Class of 1976
16 – Shelvy Maze Cunningham, Class of 1964
16 – Henry Moore, husband of Beth
Pritchard Moore, Class of 1975
16 – Paula Rossi Wiley, Class of 1976
17 -- Nancy Jane Coward Willis, Class of 1969
18 – Bill Cameon, Class of 1960
20 – Mike Hess, Class of 1975
22 – Frances Wimer Miller, Class of
1951
23 – Jim Fullen
25 – Charles Melton, Class of 1973
25 – Chris Shamrock Henning
25 -- Dave Willis, Class of 1961
27 – John Yokay III, son of John Yokay,
Class of 1953
29 --
Dolores Edwards, Class of 1955
30 – Deborah Prunty Poluck, Class of
1973
January
6 – Jeanette Barr Baczuk, Class of 1940
13 – Beatrice Salisbury Mills, Class of
1951
17 – Susan Colaneri Monell, Class of
1949
18 – Arlene Marteney Decker Edgell,
Class of 1951
?? – Marie Bee Zwiegel, Class of 1951
18 – Bertha Pazdric Sullivan, Class of
1954
18 – Greg Vandetta, former Monongah
mayor, husband of Debbie Manzo Vandetta, Class of 1973
19 – Joe Martin, Class of 1957
19 – Joann Thompson, Class of 1962
22 – Jo-Jo DeMary of Monongah, who
lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee and is married to Yvonne King DeMary
24 – Marcia Michalski Westfall, Class
of 1974
24 – Mark “Hooch” Aldridge, Class of
1973
29 – Kitty Ahouse Morrison, Class of
1968
February
1 – Debra Manzo Vandetta, Class of 1973
2 – Sylvia Edwards, Monongah grad
living in Idamay
3 – Debbie Weaver Hurley, Monongah grad
living in Monongah with husband Milton Hurley
3 – Rebecca Urish Anderson, Class of
1971
4 – Cheryl Boydoh Fordyce, Class of
1963, lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan
8 – Tom Fleming, Monongah grad living
in Bridgeport
9 – Bob Nichols, Class of 1964
10 – Bonnie Nicholson Moats, Class of
1960
11—Linda Renay Hess Postlethwait, Class
of 1968
15 – Jerry Koloskie, Class of 1975
17 – Larry “Danny” Eates, Class of 1970
18 – Mark Tarley, North Marion grad
20 – Harold Dean Kniceley, Class of
1960
21 – Eva Huey Jarvis, Class of 1975
24 – Mary Kelly, Monongah & North
Marion
29 – Betty Sikinow Cunningham, Class of
1954
March
5 – Phil Colanero, Jr., Class of 1963
5 -- Doris Carpenter Rogers, Class of 1971
6 – Karen Fitzwater Pausch, Class of
1961
9 – Richie Basagic, Class of 1975
9 – Brian Evans, Monongah graduate
married to Patty DeMary Evans
15 – Donna Colvert Davis, Class of
1961, married to 1958 MHS grad Bill Davis
15 – Clarence William “Bill” Woods,
Class of 1952
18 – Nancy Carol Davidson Kantura,
Class of 1955
20 – Barbara Melton Earl, Class of 1978
22 – David Haines, Class of 1964
25 – Sandy Cook, Class of 1959
25 -- David Edwards, Class
of 1976.
25 – Richard Fitzwater, Monongah
graduate
28 – Josephine Popovich Jones, Class of
1952
April
4 – Charlotte Walker Cahill, Class of
1954
5 – Bernie Fullen, Class of 1963
9 – Paula “P.J.” Hickman, North Marion
1983
11 – Leo Kubiet, Class of 1942
12 – Linda Sawyer Duckworth, Class of
1966
14 – Lyla Cosner Howell, Class of 1958
15 – Judy Stewart Monell Razook, Class
of 1959
16 – Becky Shelosky Carvillano, Class
of 1961
18 – Aaron Justice, Jr., Class of 1972
30 – Shirley Knight Ritterhouse, Class
of 1954
May
4 – Freddie Jane Colosino Villers,
Class of 1964
5 – Frank Franze, Class of 1950
5 – Louis Poluck, Class of 1973
6 – Jerry Loss, Class of 1956
12 – Arlene Kitchin, wife of Joe
Martin, Class of 1957
14 – Donna Post Swiger, Class of 1953
14 – Mike Jurasko, Class of 1957
14 – Virginia Belle Littleton Curtis,
Class of 1957
17 – Colette Stanley Melton, Class of
1970
17 – Lorraine Hulderman, Class of 1968
20 – Linda Tomlinson Stevenski, Class
of 1955
21 – June Paxton Rogers, Class of 1948
22 – Toni Pflock Hennis, Class of 1955
27 – Ed Graffius, Class of 1971
28 – Terri Orsini Saye, Class of 1972
29 – John Woods, Class of 1957
29 – Scott Rogers, Class of 1973
30 – Dave Westfall, Class of 1948
June
1 – Parma Kay Fetty, Class of 1973
3 – Jim Birdsell, North Marion grad
from Monongah; married to Angela
5 – Ann “Peaches” DeMary
8 – John Koloskie, Jr., Class of 1944
8 – Pat Slovekosky Morris, Class of
1970
13 – John Melton, Class of 1975
13 – C.L. “Roy” Parker II, North Marion
Class of 1982
13 – Rick Morrison, son of Kitty Ahouse
Morrison, Class of 1968
14 – Pamela Morrison Bombardiere, Class
of 1967
14 – Regina Levelle Humphrey, Class of
1973
14 – Regina McCoy Murphy, Class of 1973
17 – Delmas Gene Hartley, Class of 1979
20 – Shirley Ann Woods Merchant, Class
of 1953
22 – Prudence Deane Tetrick Funk, Class
of 1960.
23 – Ramona Fullen Michalski, Class of
1949
23 – Kathryn Manuel Marshall, Class of
1960
23 – Ron Manzo, Class of 1969
23 – Frankie Vandetta, North Marion
grad
July
1 – Roger Fisher, Monongah High grad
3 – Susan Ahouse Schrader, Class of
1971
5 – David Gowers, Class of 1971
5 – Bill Meredith, Class of 1957
7 – Alex Fazio Huff, North Marion 2005
grad
10 – Mary Fleming Toothman, Class of
1960
14 – Ted Nagel, Class of 1954
14 – Bentley Evans, Class of 1978
16 -- Debbie Moore O'Dell,
Class of 1969
18 – Larry Zickefoose, Class of 1968
19 – Arlene Martha Edwards Costelac,
Class of 1958
20 – Catherine Reckart Boyce, Class of
1973
21 – Robin Huffman Satterfield, Class
of 1973
16 – Jean Nagel Viglianco, Class of
1949
19 – Jane Pritchard Moore, Class of
1975
29 – Pete Basagic, Class of 1972
August
1 – Kim DeMary Clowers, Class of 1979
5 – Robert Tennant, Class of 1971
6 – Wauneda Evans, Patty DeMary Evans’
mother-in-law
7 – Dorie Mike Whetsell, Monongah
graduate
8 – Sandra Ashcraft, Class of 1964
9 – Paula Kerns Fazio, Class of 1979
15 – David Kelly, 1980 North Marion
grad after 11 years at Thoburn & Monongah High
16 – Debby Morrison Harden, Class of
1966
17 – Twins Earnest Hayes & Chester
Hayes, both Class of 1965
18 – Jim McDaniel, Class of 1960
18 – John Fazio, Class of 1970
19 – Greg Postlethwait, Class of 1964
19 – Barbra Eller-Hanning, Monongah
grad
20 – Irene Fazio Preolitti, Class of
1966
20 – Connie Warash, Class of 1975
21 – Robert Howard Edwards, Class of
1959
24 – Sean Patrick Fazio, 2015 North
Marion grad
29– Pat Meredith Wills, Class of 1950
30 – Beth Pritchard Brooks, Class of
1978
30 – David Harbert of Idamay,
Farmington grad
September
1 – Claude Domico, Jr., Class of 1959
3 – Debra June Knight, Class of 1973
6 – Dave Domico of Monongah, Fairmont
West grad married to Andrea Justice Domico
7 – Phillis Tarley, North Marion grad
from Idamay living in Fairmont
8 – Fred Moorehead, Class of 1964
8 – Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of
1955
13 – Karen Manzo Tennant, Class of 1974
14 – Jim Shaver, Class of 1954
15 – Bettie Hensley Lowther, Class of
1948
17 – Patti DeMary Evans, Class of 1972
20 – Greg Patrick, Class of 1970
23 – Sally Wood Tarley, Class of 1959
24 – Joe Fazio, Class of 1974
25 – Marylee Hertzog Gwinn, Class of
1948
25 – Jim Davis, Class of 1964
26 – Nathaleen Cameon Oliverio, Class
of 1948
27 -- Bonita Lavencheck Waybright,
Class of 1968
29 – Doris Jean Menear Basnett, Class
of 1938
29 – Dietta Harden Goush, Class of 1959
29 – Pamm Yanero Bragg, Class of 1969
October
1 – Janet Sowers Rinehart, Class of
1964
2 – Stanley H. Vance, Class of 1964
7 – Sherry McIntire, Class of 1975
8 – Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971
8 – Valerie Vandetta Aldridge, Class of
1973
11 – Jay Holman, Class of 1971
12 – Brenda Manzo, wife of Danny Manzo,
Class of 1957
14 – John Prunty, Class of 1949
18 – Kim Glover Ice, Class of 1975
19 – Ronda Colisino, Class of 1978
20 – Leona “Duckles” Davis Schooley,
Class of 1953
20 – Richard Edwards, Class of 1978
21 – Ken Slovekosky, Gilmer County High
Class of 1976.
22 – Mike Uram, 1981 North Marion
graduate
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25 -- Rachel Vivian Stalnaker Sloan,
Class of 1962.
26 – Lori Hawkins Ice, Fairmont East
graduate living in Carolina
29 – Robert Boydoh, Class of 1956
31 – Patty Steele McCombs, Fairmont
East graduate who lives in Monongah
31 – Helen McDougal Mudry, Monongah High grad
November
1 – Tom Dean, Class of 1949
4 – Roger Harbert, Class of 1960
5 – John Olesky, Class of 1950
8 – Richard “Ike” Chickerell, Class of 1970
8 – Diana Pishner Walker
10 – Tony Orsini, Class of 1946
10 – Anthony Pulice, Jr., Class of 1945
13 – Elwood Toll, Class of 1951
14 – Ann Marie Mascak Davis, Class of
1955
17 – John Todd Moats, North Marion
Class of 1985
20 – Kathryn Toothman Crim, Class of
1950
22 – Mike Ahouse, Class of 1968
23 -- Antheai Justice Turner, North Marion 1982
25 – Gerald Nelson Hartley, Class of
1955
27 – Roy Foster, Class of 1945
28 – Danny Fullen, Class of 1961
29 – Dave Westfall, Marcia Westfall Michalski’s son
A STORY THAT NEVER GETS TOO OLD TO LIGHT UP THE HEARTS OF LIONS EVERYWHERE
Sometimes
stories and photos still dazzle with age and bear repeating. Such as the fascinating
stories behind the Monongah Christmas street lights.
Including
a heartwarming tale behind the new Monongah Christmas street light where the
Dairy Kone used to be.
Mari Lisa
Johnson purchased light in memory of her mother, Lavinia Rose
Prezioso Edmond, Class of 1960.
It is
where Lavinia worked at Dairy Mart till her retirement. Every time Mari Lisa
sees her mom’s light lit up, it will be like seeing her mother’s star in
Heaven.
Lavinia
graduated in the top 10 of her 1960 class. She was in the National
Honor Society, a cheerleader, on the Black Diamond yearbook staff, in the
junior play cast, in the Homecoming court, on the prom committee and attended
the State Journalism Convention. Busy person at Monongah High, huh?
Lavinia’s
parents were Ruth Kanavy Prezioso Huskelhus and Arthur Prezioso.
Mari
Lisa’s siblings are Dr. Michael Edmond, a legendary doctor married to Dr.
Laurie Lyckholm and the chief medical officer at WVU Medicine in Morgantown,
and Steve and Amy Edmond of Fairmont. Another sibling, Mark Patrick Edmond, is
deceased.
Steve
Edmond is the West Virginia Health & Human Resources Bureau for Public
Health’s Office of Emergency Medical Services’ trauma designation coordinator
under OEMS medical director Michael Mill. Steve also is a Registered
Nurse.
WVU School of Medicine graduate Dr. Edmond
is an internal medicine doctor who has been practicing for 31 years. He is
affiliated with University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. He went from chief
resident at WVU to a fellowship in infectious diseases as the University of
Pittsburgh and a fellowship in hospital epidemiology at the University of Iowa.
That was followed by a stint as chief of quality at the University of Iowa
Hospitals and Clinics and in Richmond, Virginia before landing in Morgantown.
Dr. Edmond has been published 350 times and
been named in U.S. News & World Report’s top doctors in America and the top
20 people in Health Leaders Magazine. He is a leader in setting guidelines to
avoid patient infections in hospitals, including disposing of doctors’ white
coats because the sleeves collect harmful pathogens to pass on to patients.
Physicians wore black coats till the 1800s when German doctors changed the garb
to the now-familiar white coats.
Dr. Edmond also was a pioneer in fecal
transplants, putting fecies from healthy patients into those suffering from
C.diff (Clostridium Difficle), a common infection for hospital patients, until
Food and Drug Administration policies made the time-consumering paperwork and
redtape overwhelming.
Dr. Edmond would take a healthy stool
sample from a donor, usually a family member, mix it in a blender, pass it
through coffee filters and put it into a syringe. The result was inserted
through a tube in the patient’s nose, down their throat and into their stomach.
It sounds gross, but Dr. Edmond’s procedure was five times more efficient than
antibiotics in eliminating C.diff.
Now those who can afford it go to
Australia, Europe, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom and India where the
procedure is being done regularly. The United States and Canada are more
restrictive about allowing the procedure.
Dr. Niti Armistead, a native of India who
had her residency in Richmond and came under the wing of Dr. Edmond, is vice
president of quality and patient safety at WVU Hospitals in Morgantown, West
Virginia.
Dr. Edmond’s wife, Dr. Laurie Lyckholm, is
a Creighton University (Omaha, Nebraska) Medical School graduate who was on the
Virginia Commonwealth University faculty staff for 18 years, focusing on care
for indigents and prisoners.
Lavinia’s
sister is Barbara Jean Prezioso Vozniak, who married Mitch Vozniak. Both are
Class of 1953 and deceased. I
went to school and caddied at Fairmont Field Club with Mitch, who was on the
1952 Monongah High state football championship team and an auto racing
mechanic.
Barbara’s aunt, the late Amelia Ann Yerace
Prezioso (The Canned Peppers Lady), ran Prezioso Grocery at the top of Jackson
Street with her husband, Roman Prezioso, Sr.
Amelia and Roman, Sr. are the parents of
State Sen. Roman Prezioso, Jr., Class of 1967, who lives in Fairmont with wife
Deborah.
Nearly every Christmas street light in Monongah
has a worthwhile story behind its purchase and/or installation.
The deer light near Main Street was
bought by Sheila Womack for Warren Sloan, the late Monongah councilman and
police chief, who originated the Christmas in Monongah Toy Giveaway in the
1970s. Warren would leave packages on
doorsteps with a note that said "Robin Hood was here."
It began with 25 families and in four years
grew to 150 families and morphed into the public Robin Hood Project and
eventually the Christmas in Monongah Toy Giveaway sponsored by Monongah Family Fish Day organizers and brothers
Dave and Warren Sloan, both living in Monongah.
Warren Sloan was the owner of E&M Auto
on Lyndon Avenue. He started the company in 1996.
The
Angel was purchased by Betty Walls Vandetta in memory of her late husband,
former Monongah mayor James Leon Vandetta, who served the town for 10 years
(1990-2001) before passing away in 2002. Jim’s son, Greg Vandetta, also became
a Monongah mayor.
1950
Fairview High graduate Betty also is a graduate of Fairmont General Hospital
School of Nursing.
The
seashell with gold pearl light on Church Street was purchased by me because I
grew up in the house across the street from the light. It was my payback to
Monongah for everyone in town making sure that I didn’t kill myself when I was
out of sight of my parents, John W. Olesky, Sr. and Lena Futten Olesky.
As I
see it the pearl represents Christ and the seashell represents his tomb, my way
of telling the amazing story of the Resurrection.
Hardly
a year goes by that a Lion doesn’t contact me and ask for the meaning behind my
Church Street Christmas light. So here it is . . . again for those who don’t
know it.
Adam
Michna, who graduated from North Marion in 1980 after attending Monongah High
for 3 years, also purchased a light this year in memory of the Michna family
which included his parents, also
Adam Michna and Ethel Stevens Michna, and Sister Rose and Sister Dolores at Sts.
Peter and Paul School. Adam’s light is on Maple Avenue between the former
Monongah High building and the old West Virginia State Police barracks, once
the home of T.J. Pearse.
That
means you might be able to see Adam’s light and my light while standing where
Coach Jim Feltz and wife Betty Lynn Feltz once lived, before the late funeral
director Junior Domico’s family occupied that green house next to Our Lady of
Pompeii Church, which was razed years ago.
The Angel of Light on Shenasky Lane was
placed there by Susan Staron Sanders’ Charge of the Lights Brigade because
Amelia has donated so much to their fundraising that all but paid for that
light.
The
Candle was purchased last year by the Town of Monongah. The Shooting Star was
bought by the Fire Department.
Those
21 Christmas street lights don’t just twinkle and light up the town. They have
stories to tell.
And,
behind the lights is another group, the Angel of Thomas Street Susan Staron
Sanders’ Charge of the Lights Brigade, as I call them.
Susan is Class of 1971.
Their work shines even brighter than the
Christmas street lights that have such brilliant stories behind them.
And so does the story behind the Christmas street lights in Monongah that astronauts probably see when they are way out in space.
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
ROBERT EUGENE 'GENE' RILEY PASSES AWAY
Robert Eugene “Gene” Riley, Class of
1949, passed away Monday, November 21.
The children of Gene and Lola Robinson Riley
are Cheryl Diane “Cherie” Riley Cottrill, Class of 1968, widow of 1970
Farmington High graduate James Fred Cottrill; Robert “Kip” Riley, Class of 1971; Rhonda
Kaye Riley Wilson, Class of 1975; and Vicki Riley DeWitt, Class of 1979.
The
late James Nottingham, Class of 1961, was Gene’s half-brother.
Nancy Riley Basnett, Class of 1960, is their cousin.
Nancy's dad, Howard Riley, was a brother of Filmore Riley, Gene Riley’s father.
Gene’s obituary:
ROBERT
"GENE" RILEY
September
24, 1930 - November 21, 2022
Robert Eugene “Gene” Riley,
92, of Fairmont, passed away Monday, November 21, 2022 after a 4 ½ year battle
with cancer surrounded by his family.
Gene was born on a farm in
Parrish Run, Marion County, to the late Philmore Riley and Emma McGruder Riley
Nottingham.
He graduated from Monongah High School in 1949. After graduation,
he married his childhood sweetheart, Lola Robinson, who preceded him in death
in 1995.
Together, they raised four children on New Hill in Worthington.
Gene started working as a
young teenager on the railroad. After graduation from High School, he worked as
a moulder at Fisher Foundry, then worked at Barrackville Bethleham Steel Coal
Mines until it closed. He retired from the Fairmont General Hospital
Maintenance Department.
Gene enjoyed the simple
things in life, like sitting on his back porch swing watching the birds. He
loved being surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Mowing grass was his favorite chore. He mowed 5 acres one to two times weekly
until this past summer when his illness made it impossible for him to ride his
Gravely, where he always said he talked to God while mowing.
He was a member of the South
Ridge Church and loved the entire pastoral staff and sitting in his “special
seat.”
Gene was adopted by Gabrielle Jordan’s White Hall Elementary
Kindergarten classes and was blessed with many hand-made birthday and Holiday
cards, gifts, letters, and all of the love they shared with him. He cherished
and read their words frequently. He was honored with a “drive by” during recess
and the students all gathered inside the fence to wave at him.
Gene is survived by his
children, Cherie Cottrill of Fairmont, Kip (Tracey) Riley of Fairmont, Rhonda
(Steve) Wilson of Fairmont, Vicki DeWitt of Fairmont; grandchildren, Scott
(Patricia) Riley of Fairmont, Kaitlyn DeWitt of Morgantown, Karen Riley of
Fairmont, and Kelsey Riley of Fairmont; great grandchildren, Dominica Riley of
Fairmont and Isabella Riley of Fairmont; step grandchildren, Nick Young of
Fairmont, Mathew Wilson of Germany, Anne Wilson of Weston; former son-in-law,
Monty DeWitt of Fairmont; and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to Gene’s parents
and wife, he was preceded in death by his stepfather, Albert Nottingham;
brothers and sister, David Riley, James Nottingham and Mary Ellen Nottingham;
grandson, Christopher Riley; and a son-in-law, Fred Cottrill.
The family would like to
thank WVU Medicine Hospice, especially his hospice team, Megan, Tina, Trish,
and Barbara, for their compassion and support. He loved them all.
Dad was a kind and caring man
and wonderful Father. The family kindly asks that in lieu of flowers, to just
remember them in prayer and, as Dad frequently reminded his kids through the
years, to always be kind.
The family will receive friends
at Domico Funeral Home, 414 Gaston Avenue in Fairmont, on Friday, November 25,
2022 from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The funeral will be at the funeral home on
Saturday, November 26, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Shinnston
Memorial Cemetery. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.domicofh.com .
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