HERE A MANZO, THERE A MANZO, EVERYWHERE A MANZO IN MONONGAH HIGH HISTORY

 

Frances Raymond (once Raimondi before it was Americanized) Manzo, the woman sitting in the chair in this ancient photo, was Angelo Raymond’s sister. Angelo and wife Mary Raymond lived on Church Street one door from the Olesky rental on Thomas Street. 

Frances was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. She married Emilio Manzo, born in Italy. They met and married in Monongah.

Angelo and Mary’s son, Robert Raymond, and I were friends almost as we came out of our mother's wombs. We played. We fought. 

When I began first grade at what now is Sts. Peter and Paul School and Bobby was too young to attend he ran away from home and dashed into my schoolroom. The Sisters of the Auxilaries of the Apostolate had a good laugh over it and called Bobby’s mom to take him home.

Bobby’s sister, Rosemary Raymond Pagliaro, had to endure jokes about her “peanut” size during her childhood.

Raymond “Pigeon” Manzo, John “Duke” Manzo and Joe Manzo were all Fairmont Field Club caddies, like me.

Danny, Ronnie, Jimmy and Johnny Michael all graduated from Monongah High. Since they went to school after Monongah High merged with other Marion County schools to form North Marion, that’s where Danny, Jr. and David graduated from.

Frances married Emilio Manzo. Their son, Raymond Lavar Manzo, and his wife, Shinnston graduate Mary Ozi Manzo, had a daughter, the late Karen Sue Manzo, Class of 1974, Monongah High majorette and a WVU graduate and epidemiologist with a Publish Health Service master’s degree. Karen Sue and Robert Tennant’s son is Fairmont State graduate Matthew Tennant. Karen Sue’s brother, Jim R. Manzo, married Marie Manzo.

During my Monongah childhood you couldn’t look anywhere without seeing a Manzo. There has been a Manzo at Monongah High from 1935 through 1950 and 1969 through 1978 (the year before the final 1979 MHS graduation class that preceded the consolidation into North Marion High).

Other Manzos at Monongah High or North Marion (when Monongah merged into North Marion), include:

Phyllis Manzo Berardo, Class of 1935.

Genevieve Manzo Lopez, Class of 1937.

Mike Manzo, Class of 1941, on the 1948 world champ coal-loading crew at Monongah Mine No. 63 which loaded 1,536 tons on one shift on June 14. He was a Ford Motor retiree in Cleveland before he passed away. He married Isabelle Kish Manzo.

Patsy Manzo, Class of 1942.

Helen Manzo Raspa, Class of 1945.

John “Duke” Manzo, Class of 1945.

Raymond “Pigeon” Manzo, Class of 1947.

Mary Manzo Tiburzi, Class of 1949.

Ernie “Frog” Manzo, Class of 1953, who got his nickname because he perfected the “art” of belching like a frog during our Fairmont Field Club caddying days.

Danny Manzo, Class of 1957, who married Fairmont East grad Brenda Manzo. Danny was on the 1955 Monongah High state champ football team and was co-captain with Joe Meffe of the 1956 Monongah High state football title game runnerup team. 

Lisa Jacobin Manzo, 1986 North Marion grad, and Kristen Manzo, who formed the Thistle & Tweed folk duo with Patrick Blood that performed at the Monongahfest, are in Brenda and Danny’s family. 

Ronald Manzo, Class of 1969, son of Helen Cecelia Manzo and Phil Manzo; brother of Monongah’s former First Lady, Debbie Manzo Vandetta; nephew of Ernie “Frog”, Joe, Duke and Raymond “Pigeon” Manzo. Ron retired from the Bailey mine of Consol Energy. Ron married Fairview High grad Janice Manzo and their children are Andrew, Evan, Aaron, Ashley and Jared.

I met Ron and Janice’s son, Andrew Manzo, in The Villages, Florida, where I spent winters for about a decade to escape Ohio’s cold months. We met on a golf course, of course, Hilltop Golf Course, to be exact, my favorite in The Villages because the FIRST hole was hilly enough to remind me of my 10 years of caddying and playing golf at Fairmont Field Club – with a lot of Manzos, of course. 

Andrew was production editor for the Village Sun newspaper and parred so many holes I thought he was a reincarnation of Renzy Fazio, who married my dad’s sister, Frances Olesky Fazio, and gave me the same golf “schooling” in West Virginia as Andrew did in sunny Florida.

I ran into Ron and Janice and Debbie Manzo Vandetta and husband Greg Vandetta in the Light Blue Lot more than once before a WVU game in Mountaineer Field.

Manzo Bolyard, Class of 1970.

Pat Manzo, Class of 1973.

Debbie Manzo Vandetta, Class of 1973, married to former Monongah Mayor Carl Vandetta.

Lisa Myers Manzo, Class of 1977.

Tina Manzo Prodanovich, Class of 1977.

Jim Manzo, Class of 1978.

Kim Sapp Manzo, North Marion 1980

Lisa Jacobin Manzo, 1986 North Marion grad

There was a Manzo – how could their NOT be – in my Class of 1950, part of our gang that roamed Marion County during our high school years. That was Joe Manzo, who survived being a medic during the Korean War, married Louellen “Boots” Saunders Manzo, Class of 1946 who lived in Everson while attending MHS. Both are deceased.

You will never know how tough it is to keep track of the Manzos. When “Boots” passed away her obituary listed Debbie Manzo as her granddaughter and I explained in this blog at the time that this was NOT the Debbie Manzo Vandetta who married former Monongah Mayor Greg Vandetta.

Shout "Hey, Manzo" around Monongah are you're likely to be flattered by a stampede of Manzos!