CLASS OF 1967 ... IN SAME CLASS AT THOBURN, AT MONONGAH HIGH AND TODAY

 

I was intrigued by the Class of 1967’s 50-year anniversary photo at the Monongah High Alumni Banquet in 2017. And a Thoburn School photo when many of them were in the same grade there.

So, using my 42 years in newspapers, as a reporter and sportswriter but mostly as an editor, I investigated the people in the photo.

Joetta Martino Bowie, 3^rd from the right in the 3^rd row, was Queen of the Letterman’s Club Christmas Dance at Monongah High. She was escorted by John Larry (front row, far left) and crowned by Roman Prezioso, just to the left of Joetta.

Mary Chris Fazio, my cousin because her father, Renzy Fazio, married my father’s sister, Frances Olesky Fazio, was first runnerup, Trudy Damico 2^nd runnerup, Debbie Basagic 3^rd runnerup, Donna Westfall 4^th runnerup.

Joetta studied at Maryland Medical Secretarial School in Hagerstown, Maryland and lives in Houston, Texas with veteran Ron Bowie, her husband since 1976. So do her sisters, Karen Jo and Suzanne, who was matron of honor at wedding of Sharon Hawkins, Suzanne's friend during their Worthington days. 

Brenda Shumate Edmonds, 3^rd row, 2^nd from right, was Homecoming queen. Linda Bonasso was senior princess, Debby DeFazio was junior princess, Pam Yanero was sophomore princess and Nancy Manzo was freshman princess.

Judy Henderson was prom queen. Her court was Dotty Woody, Linda Shipco, Gela Cameon, Joyce Viney and Brenda Knoble.

Valentine Dance queen was Linda Samuels, escorted by Butch Beans and crossed by Philip Hayes.

Sharon Garrett was first runnerup, escorted by Roman Prezioso. 2^nd runnerup was Donna Westfall, escorted by Rod Glover.

Sandra Lee Thompson Barton, second row, far left in photo, a 1991 Northeastern Bible College graduate, is a Bible teacher, author and speaker living in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. She was at the 2018 annual Monongah High Alumni Banquet when the largest crowd in 7 years (210!) showed up. Also at 2005, 2012 and 2014 Reunions.

Sandy is in dialysis and waiting for a kidney transplant. Her sister is Carole Thompson Spatafore, Class of 1965, widow of John Spatafore. Carole handles the Monongah High Alumni Association scholarship fund. She once handled the Monongah High Alumni reunion golf outings at Green Hills till interest grew so small that they quit doing it.

Daniel Thompson, Carol’s brother, lives in Monongah with wife Letha.

Phyllis Wilson Ellison, second row, 2^nd from left, once lived in Four States and today resides in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Linda Knoble-Carr, second row, 4^th from left, worked at Philips and lives in Morgantown. She married Sanford Carr, former Monongah Councilman and a guy who helped out everyone he could to fix up their property, in 1969. Sanford passed away in 2020 after suffering eight heart attacks.

Their children and spouses are 1989 North Marion grad Tonia Carr Posten & Bill Posten, also a North Marion grad, and Bryan Carr & Amie Carr, all living in Monongah. Their grandchildren are Tyler Carr, Teala Jesseman and her husband David, Patrick Carr, Gabriel Carr, Peyton Taylor and Raquel Taylor.

Bill is in Mobile maintenance at First Energy and Tonia works in the Monongah Water Office. They live in Monongah.

Linda and Gloria Sypult are close friends.

Susan Blocker, 3^rd row, 5^th from left, retired after 43 years at Fairmont Supply and was a part-timer at Ace Hardware. She lives in Fairmont.

Roman Prezioso, 3^rd row, 6^th from left, was in the West Virginia State Legislature for more than three decades. He was in the House of Delegates from 1988 to 1996, then the State Senate from 1996 to 2020.

Roman and wife Deborah live in Fairmont. Roman’s sister, Marie Prezioso, lives in Charleston.

Roman’s parents were Amelia Ann Yerace Prezioso and Roman Prezioso, Sr., who ran Prezioso Grocery at the top of Jackson Street. Amelia was famous for her canned peppers, which she grew, canned and sold for decades.

Monongah’s Preziosos include Lavania Serge Prezioso, Josephine Prezioso Westfall, Bea Prezioso Mangino, Brulina Prezioso Sweeney, Barbara Prezioso Vozniak (who married Mitch Vozniak), Eugene Prezioso and wife Pat and Dr. Ronald Pearse and wife Julia of Fairmont (his branch changed the name from Prezioso to Pearse).

Mickey Salai Satterfield, 3^rd row, far right, is a Fairmont State graduate in accounting/CPA who lives in Morgantown. She’s married.

Judith Henderson Betonte, Patsy Paszuale and Vernon Beans, not in photo, have passed away.

1967 yearbook was dedicated to teacher Geneva Brumage, who taught me typing that I used throughout my 42-year newspaper career.

Teachers in 1967 that I had in 1950 are Mary Turkovich, my favorite math/algebra/geomedtry teacher at MHS, and Eleanor McElroy, who taught English and later became a minister.

MONONGAH CHRISTMAS STREET LIGHTS STORED AWAY SAFELY TILL 2023 CHRISTMASTIME

 

The legendary Monongah Christmas street lights have been put “stored neatly away” till Christmastime 2023.

 

The job took 6½ hours, Susan Staron Sanders, Monongah High Class of 1971 and founder and president of the Christmas Lights Committee, reports.

 

That’s SIXTY FOUR lights, including my pearl in a seashell light next to my Church Street childhood home.

 

Here’s more from Susan:

 

“We started taking down the lights and banners at 8 AM and finished at 2:30 PM. They are down and stored neatly away.

 

“Thanks to newcomers Chris (Chrissy Shaver) and Amber (Wycoff), we've never had the lights come down so fast and smooth ever. This was their first time for them to help us. Amber even made homemade breakfast burritos for everyone that were so delicious.

 

“They brought a flatbed truck to hold the lights and Amber even rode in the back with them to keep them secure and not break in any way. Her husband drove the truck and did an outstanding job.

 

“Rogers Electric Ryan, his Son & Nathan were so thrilled with the new help and had never seen anything like it.

 

“Chuck Tice, who had worked 60 hours this week as a mechanic at Toothman & Sowers, came through with flying colors as always.

 

“Josh Scritchfield (Monongah fireman), always there and ready to help, is one in a million.

 

“Cops Rick Barnhart and Nathan Lanham were great and made sure we had the best safety ever.

 

“Mari Lisa Johnson for donated space in her wonderful garage to store the lights in our

beautiful town.

 

“To top it off Amber brought me supper. WOW!”

 

It’s impossible to say no when the Angel of Thomas Street asks you to volunteer for anything. Susan also is an awesome Monongah Town Council member.

 

I melt when she smiles at me. So does her late husband, Ron Sanders, beaming from Heaven.

SHOW YOUR LOVE FOR MONONGAH HIGH WITH CUPS AND TUMBLERS

 

Want coffee cups that have Monongah Alumni and a Lion on one side and 100^th Banquet 1923-2023 on the other side?

Or metal tumblers with the same message?

They are available for $10 for the coffee cup, $25 for the 16-ounce metal tumblers.

But you have to come to Marion County to get them. NO cups or tumblers will be shipped. Shipping cost would mean a loss on the sale.

You can buy them now, even if you live out of state. But you’ll have to make arrangements to come to Monongah or the 2023 Monongah Alumni Banquet to pick them up.

Phone Donna Davis, Class of 1961, at (304) 534-5636 if you’re not living in Marion County to make arrangements to visit Monongah and pick up your purchases. She’ll work something out so your purchases can be handed over to you.

The cup and tumbler lettering will be in red. The Lion will be in black.

If you want cups ($10) or tumblers ($25), make your check out to

Monongah High Alumni Association

and mail it to:

Donna Davis

858 Park Avenue

Monongah, WV 26554-1143

Cups and tumblers will be waiting at the Saturday, May 13 Monongah High Alumni Banquet for those who ordered and paid for them. If you don’t come to the MHS Banquet you’ll have to make arrangements with Donna about when and where you’ll be in Monongah to pick them up from Donna on Park Avenue. Her home is near Mount Calvary Cemetery where I visit long-time Monongah math/algebra/geometry teacher Mary Turkovich’s grave with a rose and a “thank you” to the teacher who taught me the value of math (nice stock portfolio) and discipline (I was so immature at MHS I needed a dose of Miss Turkovich’s firm hand more than anyone else).

The last graduation class at Monongah High was the Class of 1979 before Monongah consolidated into North Marion High. The Lions won state titles in football in 1952, 1955, 1968, 1969 and 1973, baseball in 1925 and 1955 and basketball in 1928. No bad for a school with small enrollment (45 in my Class of 1950 graduation class) in a coal mining town with fewer than 1,000 people.

Among the 3,143 Monongah High School graduates are doctors, nurses, state legislators, prosecuting attorneys, engineers, attorneys, school superintendents, judges, educators, business leaders, military personnel including a general and newspaper editors and reporters.

That includes Dr. Michael Bruce Edmonds, head of WVU Medical Center in Morgantown, a pioneer in the treatment of COVID patients through use of fecal matter. His method is used today throughout the world.

And Nick Saban, Class of 1969, who has won more national college football titles than anyone else in history with 7, including 6 at Alabama and 1 at LSU.

Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965, is president of the Monongah High Alumni Association. She lives in Alachua, Florida with husband Jim Gandy, also on the Alumni Board.

Donna Davis has been Alumni Association treasurer since forever. She is married to Bill Davis, Class of 1958.

The 100^th Monongah High Alumni Banquet, the oldest high school reunion in West Virginia history, will be Saturday, May 13 (Memorial Day weekend) in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont, as usual. Cost is $30 per person.

Greta Martin Mike, Class of 1922, founded the Monongah Alumni Association in 1922 and came up with the first Monongah High Alumni Reunion that year, which was held in Mannington. Greta was married to Jimmy Mike, of the legendary Monongah Mike family barbers that included Dominic Mike and Mutt Mike. My head of hair got clipped and trimmed into shape throughout my Monongah childhood.

The majority of the banquets were in the Fairmont Hotel.  They switched to Morgantown’s Ramada Inn in 1972. Then the banquet was moved to Westchester Village in Fairmont. When Westchester Village closed, the MHS Banquet switched to the K of C in 2014, where it has remained to this day.

So, purchase your $10 coffee cups and $25 tumblers! They will make great keepsakes to hand down to your children and grandchildren.

I will be purchasing about a half-dozen cups and the same number of tumblers.

It will be proof that, for Lions, our cup runneth over with love.

SHERRI MOORE NAMED SENIOR ADVISOR TO MONONGAH CHRISTMAS STREET LIGHTS COMMITTEE

 

Sherri Moore has been named senior advisor to Monongah Christmas Street Lights committee president Susan Staron Sanders, Class of 1971.

 

Sherri is a 1985 graduate of Fayetteville High School in West Virginia. She moved there her senior year to help care for her sick aunt.

 

Sherri originally is from Fairmont. She has three children -- Kristin, Justin and Frank -- and grandchildren Sophia, Ashlyn, Fairmont West senior Nevaeh, Milly, Presley (will be born any time now) and Bailey, who passed away at birth.  

 

She owns her own cleaning company, All About Cleaning, and once owned a restaurant in Parkersburg.  

 

Sherri said, after my prompting: “My favorite memory is decorating at Christmas time with my mama who has just passed this November. She is the reason I love Christmas so much (besides it being the birth of Our Savior).”

 

Her favorite place in her travels is Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, also known as Little San Salvador Island. It’s a tiny private island accessible by cruise ships (and passengers with their money). It is overflowing with birdlife and has Stingray Cove, a lagoon enclosure, teeming with stingrays.

 

Monongah’s legendary Christmas street lights, all 64 of them, will coming down Saturday, January 14, to be stored safely away for another Christmas season.

 

Louise Linn is replacing Chrissy Shaver as secretary of what I call The Charge of the Lights Brigade because Chrissy is swamped starting up her own business. Susan is president and founder. Carolyn Tice is vice president. Linda McCullough is treasurer.

 

Susan describes Josh Scritchfield as “my right-hand man. He’s always there for me.” Josh is a Monongah fireman.

 

Susan added: “Chuck Tice also is my assistant. He works for Toothman & Sowers as a mechanic. He also in charge of putting up the lights, taking them down and fixing whatever they need.”

 

Susan’s volunteers include Teena Field Ailstock, Amber Wycoff, Beth Campbell, Amanda Hawkins and her father Robert Hawkins and Louise Linn.

 

It takes an army to deal with the 64 Monongah Christmas street lights that astronauts can see from space and an angel to lead them. Nothing this miraculous happens by accident.

 

Maybe Susan should promote Monongah as The Brightest Christmas Town in America, contact the West Virginia promotions department to spread the word. Like the baseball field in Iowa, if people know about it they will come . . . from all over America every Christmas.

 

Because of the burden of maintaining the lights ($1,570.55 for brackets for the 24 lights White Hall donated to Monongah) and paying the $3,271.94 electric bill ($4,842.49 combined for the electric and new brackets) to make them light up the town, Susan said, “We will not be ordering any more lights. One reason is the expense. The other is no help. This is a lot of work and I no longer want my board members out there doing all of the work. We have health problems and shouldn’t be out there anyway.”

 

You don’t have 64 huge Christmas street lights in a town with fewer than 1,000 people without a lot of money donations and volunteers for the labor.

 

Susan added: “This is why it’s very important for volunteers to help us. The more help we have the faster things gets done.

 

“You all love the lights (indeed!). So please step up and help us.”

 

Already-high expenses grew even more with the requirement to buy brackets for the 22 new lights that Whitehall gave Monongah.

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!

JEANNETTE BARR BACZUK ENJOYS 100TH BIRTHDAY PARTY IN ASHLAND, OHIO

 

Jeannette Barr Baczuk, Class of 1940, celebrated her 100^th birthday Saturday, January 7 in the Belmont Tower building of the immense Brethren Care Village in Ashland, Ohio.

Her 4 children were there. Jim Baczuk organized the event. His sisters Lynne Beecham, Maribeth Mooore and Jan Penrose were there to help Mom usher in one-oh-oh!!!

Lynne is a widow living in Bellville, Ohio; Jim is married to Rachelle and they live in Thomas, West Virginia, near the entrance to Blackwater Falls State Park; Maribeth is a widow living in Ashland; and Jan Penrose lives with husband Rodney in Mansfield, Ohio.

Jeannette’s grandchildren are Brian Moore of Atlanta; Stephen Moore of Columbus, Ohio;  Jessica Baczuk of Thomas, West Virginia; and Adam and Rachel Penrose of Mansfield, Ohio.

Jeannette grew up in Worthington where father was the legendary Dr. James Monroe Barr, who delivered just about every baby born in Worthington in those days. They are called the Barr babies. Jennette’s mother was Eva Barr. Jeannette is the widow of Frank Baczuk.

Claire Suzanne Barr Loss, who went by Suzi and lived on the Frank and Gezala Futten Loss 100-acre Mill Farm farm of my mother Lena Futten Olesky’s sister, was Jeannette’s sister and passed away in 2016. Suzi was Class of 1948. She was the widow of Arnold “JB” Loss, not to be confused with Arnold’s father, J.B. Loss.

Jeannette’s brother is the late Harrelson Barr, Class of 1939, whose daughter, Marcie Barr Marsh, is Class of 1966. Harrelson was a long-time pilot and all-round daredevil, going back to his Worthington youth as the son of the famous Dr. Barr of Worthington.

After Monongah High, Jeannette graduated from Bowling Green Business University in Kentucky and married Frank Baczuk, Class of 1943, in 1948.

Jeannette’s first job after college was at Westinghouse in Fairmont. She started in the purchasing department and later became secretary to the manager.

Jeannette and Frank moved to Ohio in 1952. After her children were in school, she went back to work as a legal secretary for more than 20 years.

Jeannette is a member of the American Mensa Society.

After having her meal at a table with other women friends Jeannette’s son, Jim, had her switch to the table where my son and I were seated, putting her chair next to mine so that we could have a long one-on-one conversation.

Jeannette recalled being part of the “four girls from Worthington” – her, Marlyn Schuttle, Elma Collins, Margaret Thompson -- and valedictorian of the Class of 1940. She was in the senior play cast.

Jeannette first lived in the Brethren Care Village with her husband, Frank, who was dealing with Alzheimer’s. After he passed away Jeannette moved into a condo elsewhere but it didn’t take her long, living alone, to return back to Brethren and her friends there so she could socialize again.

More than 20 attended Jeannette’s 100^th birthday in the amazing, huge Brethren Care Village which includes Bay Laurel and Bloomfield Cottages for independent living, Belmont Towner and Brookwood Place for assisted living, memory care at Bradford Houses, Brethren Care Health Care Center for lifelong learning and short-term rehab at Wasen Rehabilitation Center. It all started in 1972 and grew like Topsy.

Jeannette is the woman with a Monongah connection that I was around for her 100^th birthday. The other was Amelia Shenasky Zentz, whose parents Pete and Nell Shenasky owned and operated Shenasky General Store next door to Thoburn School for decades. Amelia married Bruce Zentz and they opened the Dairy Kone that will exists on U.S. 19 after a string of owners followed Amelia and Bruce as proprietors.

When I visited Amelia on Shenasky Lane she would call me “my boyfriend.” I took that as a compliment. As for Jeannette, as she chatted with others about our ages, she quipped about me: “He’s just a kid.” Of 90!

Currently, the Shenasky buiding is owned by John Boggess, son of the late Evelyn Kasper Boggess, Class of 1953, and former coal miner Okey Boggess.

ANGELA NATARO FAZIO PASSES AWAY IN AKRON, OHIO

 

Angela Nataro Fazio, widow of Frank Fazio, her husband for 61 years, passed away in Akron, Ohio on New Year’s Day.

Cortale, Italy native Angela came to America in 1947, graduated from Duquesne University and taught for more than 35 years, mostly at Akron’s Immaculate Conception elementary school, my family attended church when we moved from Dayton, Ohio.

Frank, who passed away at the age of 93, was born in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. He moved to Ohio to work for Goodyear Aerospace and served in the Army during World War II.

 

Angela and Frank’s children are Mary Fazio Spagnuolo, Joe Fazio, Tom Fazio and John Fazio (one of many Johns in the Fazio family, just like in the Olesky family).

Cortale is in the province of Catanzaro, which is in the region of Calabria.  the “boot” of the country on the map that is closest to Sicily. The Messina Strait separates mainland Italy from Sicily. Even though Messina Strait is only 2 miles wide it connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Ionian Sea.

Cortale the name is almost 1,000 years old. Basilian monks built the Monastery of Sts. Anargiri Cosma and Damiano, which became Cortale’s town center. When a 1783 earthquake destroyed the oldest part of Cortale a new village was built and most of the population moved to reborn Cortale.

Angela’s obituary:

AKRON - Angela Fazio, 92, passed away peacefully on January 1, 2023.

 

Angela was born in Cortale, Italy and came to America in 1947.

She graduated from Duquesne University and taught for more than 35 years, primarily at Immaculate Conception.

 

Angela was an excellent cook. She had a green thumb and loved to garden. Angela was a longtime, faithful member of Immaculate Conception for over 60 years.

 

Preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Frank Fazio, Angela is survived by her children Joseph Fazio, Mary (Jerry) Spagnuolo, Thomas (Jeanne) Fazio and John (Roberta) Fazio; grandchildren Michael & Daniel Spagnuolo, Marina, Mark, Matthew, Samantha, and Anna Fazio; brother John Notaro, M.D.; and many nieces and nephews.

 

Friends may call Friday, January 6 from 4:00 -7:00 PM at the Anthony Funeral Homes, Kucko-Anthony- Kertesz Chapel, 1990 S Main St in Akron. Funeral services will begin Saturday, January 7 at 10 with prayers at the funeral home, followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 11AM at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 2101 17th St SW in Akron. Interment at Holy Cross Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Village of St. Edward via: https://vsecommunities.org// st-edward-foundation/ 

ANN EATES CHOSEN WOMAN OF THE YEAR IN MONONGAH

 

Ann Eates, widow of Joe Eates, was named Woman of the Year by the Monongah Christmas Lights Committee.

Christmas Lights Committee president and founder Susan Staron posted:

“Ann Eates she's very well known in town and a beautiful women who is a huge supporter to our town. We honored her with a banner of her and her husband Joe who passed away a while ago (2020). Monongah Mayor Johnboy Palmer came with a bouquet of roses. It was an unforgettable experience. Just beautiful.”

In 2010 Ann and Joe were named Monongahfest Citizens of the Year. Both are Class of 1945. 

They were leaders of the Monongah Heroine Committee which, with a major financial boost from the government of Italy for the $75,000 project, put up a statue honoring the wives of the 362 miners killed in the 1907 mines explosions in Monongah.

 

Ann and Joe, whose home is at the bottom of Bridge Street hill, are the godparents of John Larry Olesky of Tallmadge, Ohio, the only son of John Olesky, Jr., Class of 1950, who also lives in Tallmadge.

Ann’s  parents were Anthony and Lucy Damico DeMary. Ann's siblings Jimmy DeMary, Virginia DeMary Rossi and Anthony “Plumber” DeMary, Jr. are deceased. Plumber was in the Class of 1950 with me and Joe’s brother, Tony Eates.

 

Tony Eates lives in Fairmont with wife Lucy Cann Eates. Other siblings, all deceased, are Nick Eates, Class of 1935; Dominick Eates, Class of 1946, a former Monongah High football punter who married the late Mary Larry Eates from Carolina; Mike Eates; Mary Eates; and Angeline Eates.

 

Mike, who passed away in 2008, was married to the late Clarksburg Washington Irving High graduate Jeannie Eates.