Ken Kincaid, Class of 1968, passed away Thursday, January 17.

His widow is Francie Kincaid, who went to Monongah High before graduating from North Marion.

Thus ends “a year from hell,” as Francie calls it, and one of the great loves among Lions.

Francie posted:

“Today I lost the Love of my life. I have never felt a pain that hurts so bad. No Man has ever loved like Kenny did.

“After 36 years I am lost and I don't know how to do this without my Kenny. He has always been the love of my life. Fly High My Babe.

“R.I.P. Babe you fought so hard and you are the strongest man I ever Knew. You will always be the part of my heart that is missing. Walk with God and be pain free. You will never suffer again.

"I promise to be strong and do what I promised you I would do.

“But please don’t get upset with me right now. I am angry, hurt, lost. I just want to hear you say one more time, ‘There is my Angel the love of my life.’

“I don’t know how not to be your wife. I don’t know how to be a widow as they call me now.

“I just know the pain of being without you is so devastating. Please let me know that you are with me. I am lonely and need to know you are still with me.”

Boy, it that doesn’t get your deep in your heart, you’re not human. Particularly those of us, like me, who also have lost a long-time spouse. It is the darkest moment in life.

Ken and Frances Lynn Price Kincaid have two sons, Kenneth, Jr. and Justin Michael Kincaid. Parents and children live in Four States.

Ken was predeceased by his sister, Rebecca Sue Dano.

Ken was a member of the International Brotherhood of Elections Union.

Kayla Prince is Francie’s sister.

Ken and Frances Lynn Price Kincaid have two sons, Kenneth, Jr. and Justin Michael Kincaid. Parents and children live in Four States.

Ken was predeceased by his sister, Rebecca Sue Dano.

Harry Kincaid, father of Ken Kincaid, Class of 1968, and George Kincaid, father of Ina Kincaid Fullen, Class of 1962, are brothers.

Ina sold the family farm and moved to Fairmont after her husband, Danny Fullen, Class of 1961, passed away in 2016.

RIP, Ken. You and Francie are an inspiration to lovers everywhere.

Jay Coleman, Class of 1971, has unpleasant news about Shockey Mayle, Class of 1964:

 “I got word that Shockey Mayle is in a coma at the VA hospital. He’s a long-time resident of our small community; please lift him in prayer.”

Shockey, son of Paul Mayle and the late Veldine Mayle Mayle, is in the Louis A. Johnson Veterans Administration Hospital in Clarksburg.

Steve Mayle, Class of 1968, is Shockey’s brother. Another brother, Texan Dewayne "Sonny" Mayle, is buried in the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton.

Shockey was a starter on defense for the 7-2-1 1963 Monongah High football team and one of the captains on the 1963-64 Lions basketball team that finished 8-13.

He attended the 2014 Monongah High Alumni Reunion in Fairmont and the Four States #20 mine survivors reunion several years ago.

Veldine passed away in 2001 in her Carolina home after 61 years of marriage to Paul.

Tim Shingleton, Class of 1979, passes away

Elbert LeRoy “Tim” Shingleton, Class of 1979, passed away in Charleston Jan. 10. He had a seizure and died in a home fire, according to his sister, Beulah Diane Dodd of Armore, near Clarksburg.

Tim played basketball for Monongah High.

Tim Shingleton

His father, Okey Shingleton, died when Tim was 7 years old. His mother, Collette Lovella Cutlip Shingleton, raised their six children alone and died in 2005.

Another sister, Sister Carol Shingleton Comas, Class of 1976, lives in Clarksburg. Brother Jim Shingleton lives in Monongah.

Other siblings are Carol Delberta Comas of Fairmont, Sherri Lynn Cale of Morgantown and Delbert Wayne Shingleton of Shinnston.

Tim’s obituary:

Elbert Shingleton Elbert LeRoy "Tim" Shingleton, of Charleston, went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Saturday, January 10, 2015.

Tim was born on May 16, 1961, in Fairmont. He graduated from Monongah High School in Monongah, W.Va. and from Nyack College in Nyack, N.Y.

He was passionate about his faith and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many times he would respond to others that "Jesus is for us, not against us." He lived out his faith daily in extending kindness to others and helping anyone he could. He was an active member of Bible Center Church.

He was formerly employed at the Union Mission thrift store. Due to health challenges, he stopped working full-time. However, he would frequently volunteer on Saturdays at the mission.

His father, Okey, preceded him in death in 1968; and his mother, Collette Lovella Cutlip Shingleton, preceded him in 2005. 

Collette raised six children by herself, caring for and cooking wonderful meals for the family. 

Tim is survived by sisters, Carol Delberta Comas and her husband, Larry (Fairmont), Beulah Dianne Dodd (Armore), Sherri Lynn Cale and her fiancé, Bobby Vernon (Morgantown); brothers, Delbert Wayne Shingleton and his wife, Brenda (Shinnston) and James Franklin Shingleton (Monongah); as well as by aunts Val, Brenda and Margie. Several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins and a host of friends also survive him.

Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Monday, January 19, 2015 at the Bible Center Church, Charleston, W.V. with Pastor Eric Mounts officiating. There will be visitation an hour prior to the service. Harding Funerals and Cremations, 514 50th Street SE, Kanawha City is serving the Shingleton family. 

Lions in winter find warmer climes

 

“The Lion in Winter” was a 1966 Broadway play by James Goldman, depicting the personal and political conflicts of Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children and their guests during Christmas, 1183.

 

Linda & Jim Gandy in Florida

Robert Preston and Rosemary Harris starred on Broadway. Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn did the 1968 Oscar movie. The play has been produced numerous times, including Broadway and West End revivals.

 

Monongah High has its own Lions in winter escaping the bone-chilling north.

 

Monongah High Alumni Association president Linda Lopez Gandy and husband Jim, on the Alumni board, are in Sanibel Island, Florida, about midway between Sarasota and Naples.

 

Posts Linda:

“Hope you people up north are dressed for the weather, because we sure are down here. GREETINGS FROM SANIBEL ISLAND.”

Cora Fazio, who runs Fazio Eldercare on Stoney Lonesome in Monongah, won’t be cold much longer. Nor will husband David Fazio.

Posted Cora: 

    

“I'll be in the Caribbean in 3 weeks. I'll rub it in then, Linda Lopez Gandy.”

And MHS Lion Sharon Satterfield is vacationing in Orlando.

Plenty of Lions in winter are permanent Florida residents.

Such as Bill Meredith, Class of 1957, who will host the 3^rd annual Monongah High Alumni Reunion/Sarasota at noon Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 at the home of Bill and wife Roleta, a Clarksburg Washington Irving High graduate.

If you live in Florida or will be vacationing there Feb. 6, 2015, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com to let him know if you think you can make it.

John Olesky and Paula Tucker are renting in The Villages, Florida for three months (January-March, 2015). If you’re near The Villages (it’s not far from Tampa or Orlando), call John at (330) 388-4466 and we’ll arrange a Monongah High reunion of former Lions. 

You'll probably encounter Monongah Lions at the West Virginia Day Picnic March 1 in The Villages, too. Call John for details if you can be there. Or call him on his cellphone when you arrive.

Joe Martin, Class of 1957, and wife Arlene Kitchen, a Nova Scotia native, live on Treasure Island, near St. Petersburg.

Lloyd Schell, Class of 1957, lives in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Lyla Cosner Howell, Class of 1958, and husband Len, live in Elkins and Fort Myers Beach, Florida.

Sandy Weils Shaffer Cook, Class of 1959, and husband Bob, live in Fort Myers, Florida. 

Joyce Cowart Davis Peck, Class of 1966, lives in Palm Harbor, Florida. So do John Matkovich, Class of 1948, and wife Dolores Sweede Matkovich, Class of 1953.

Bettie Hensley Lowther, Class of 1948, lives in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Leo Kubiet, Class of 1942, lives in Largo, Florida.

Pat Meredith Wills, Class of 1950, spends her winters in her Crescent Beach home near St. Augustine Beach, Florida with husband Don Wills (and summers in their Fairmont home).

Ted Nagel, Class of 1954, has homes in Vinton, Virginia and Micco, Florida.

Bob Cottrill, Class of 1951, lives in Melbourne, Florida.

Fascinating memories of 1937 graduates!

Bonita Lavencheck Waybright, Class of 1968, who lives in Blacksburg, Virginia; Jeanette Baczuk, Class of 1940, who lives in Ashland, Ohio; Barbara Fleming Marsh, Class of  1947, who lives in Thousand Oaks, California, and Frank Franze, Class of 1950, who lives in Slidell, Louisiana, have some fascinating memories of the Class of 1937, who photos are in the Monongah High Alumni blog article below this one.

Write’s Bonita:

John, I have memories of some of the members of this class.  Kathleen  Thomas Snoderly was a teacher of mine at MHS.  I had her for Phys.  Ed, Speech and Economics & Sociology. She was also advisor for the National Honor Society. Bernard Kearns and Jean McKain were married. My mother knew Jean during her younger  days, and it seemed like every time we saw Jean she was always joking and made us laugh.  Her  youngest daughter, Susie, was a year ahead of me in school.  Susie  taught school in Barrackville. Dorothy Lee Schultz was a sister to  Margaret Mascaro, wife of John Mascaro.  I met Dorothy in the 1970's through Margaret.  They were both nice ladies.  I met Goldie Defazio Lipinski when I was in high school.  I know all her daughters, and  she was a school friend of my mother.  I knew Frances Olesky Fazio and your Uncle Renzy through their having the store.  I went to MHS during the same time as their children.  I remember as a child my  mother telling me that Frances, her sister Helen, and your dad, John,  were siblings.  Bernard "Bernie" Loss was such a nice, easy-going man.  I was friends with his daughter, Roseanne.  He worked for many years at Fairmont Supply Co.  On one of his walks up Camden Ave. he remarked to my mother and one of my aunts how clean they kept the  sidewalk in front of our house on Camden.  He was a brother to Jean Carlot and Lucille Loss Blocker who recently passed away.  I remember Marguerite Blocker Nichols from her working in Dr. Bressler's  office.  Her and her husband, Bob (the barber) lived across the  street from Carlot's on the previous site of the Monongah Bank, but  now a Family Dollar Store?  (Eventually, although it sure is a long, drawn-out process.) Their daughter was Jeannie who was married to Dinkle Martin.  Dinkle, Class of 1957, made the point after touchdown kick that won the 1955 state title for Monongah High School, its second under the late Coach Jim Feltz. Monongah has five state football titles (1952, 1955, 1968, 1969 and 1973) and one state baseball title (1955). Irene Lavencheck is my aunt.  She is in her 90's and still living in Fairmont.  She worked for many, many years for Westinghouse and retired from there.  You put this same picture of the Class of 1937 on your E-mail list more than a year ago.     During my last visit to Fairmont, I mentioned it to her.  She told me she had that picture and proceeded to go to a closet and handed it to me.  I said "That's the picture". Thanks for putting these pictures up and bringing back the memories  of the people and town of Monongah for all of us. Hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a  great New year!!!!!!! Bonita Lavencheck Waybright, Class of 1968

Jeanette, the spitfire of Monongah High’s alumni, wrote:

I remember most of the people in this class, because that was the senior class when I started to high school.  I especially remember James Barr, who was my brother.  I don’t think he spoke to me the entire year, because he was afraid someone might find out I was his sister.  And, of course, I remember Frances Olesky, because she and Jim were the stars of their class plays.  And Ed McIntire and Albert Scudiere, who were from Worthington.  Jim, Ed and Albert were all wearing the same coat in their pictures, because Albert was the only one who remembered that was picture day and wore a coat.  So, Ed and Jim wore his.  Ah, Jeanette, that is an interesting piece of trivia. Jim served in the Air Force Command during WWII, and was stationed in India.  After the war, he lived in El Paso, where he owned a restaurant.  He was a gourmet cook.  After that he moved to Phoenix and became an adjuster for Allstate Insurance Company, moving up to Vice President in charge of training adjusters in the eastern U.S. and Canada.  He later transferred to their home office in Skokie, Illinois. He retired, moved back to Phoenix and brought a lemon grove.  He died in 1989.

Barbara's reaction to the Class of 1937 wall photo:

Hi John,

How exciting and memorable for me to see a picture of each of my first cousins in the Class of 1937 Wall Photo.  They are Bill McLaughlin and Bill Fleming.  Both are gone now, but even tho’ they were 10 years older than me, I remember them so well.  Cousins were close in my youth. 

Bill McLaughlin was raised in Worthington, but lived on Fleming Hill when he died.  Bill Fleming spent most of his youth on Fleming Hill, until he married.

Thank you,

Barbara Fleming Marsh, Class of 1947

Frank Franze, Class of 1950, who lives in Slidell, Louisiana, saw a familiar 1937 face:

Rose Raschella, student teaching at Everson. She taught me in the first grade.

Frank

Wow!

That’s some great background information on the Class of 1937! What about you? Do you have memories of any 1937 graduates, or stories handed down through the family about them.

My Aunt Frances found a gold mine in Renzy Fazio. He was great to her and the children. 

He did run poker games in the back that some of the miners’ wives weren’t happy about, because they didn’t want too much of the paycheck winding up on the card table. 

My mother used to send me over to get my dad, John W. Olesky, Sr., to come home because she knew that, if I went there and cried, he’d come home. 

On the other hand, because my Dad forked over $50 at a time to my Mom when he came home and she quarreled with him about being out so long playing cards, she stashed the poker winnings away and it paid $2,200 to have the inside of our home renovated! There’s always some good in even bad things.

Uncle Renzy also was a tremendous golfer. I played with him – well, I mostly watched him play – at White Day golf course one day, between Fairmont and Morgantown. He shot a 30! 

Long, straight drives. Second shots to the green, unless the drive already got there. Accurate putting. No one ever played better golf with me as their playing companion than Uncle Renzy that day.

When I told Aunt Frances about it, in glowing terms, Uncle Renzy said of me: “He’s not so bad either.” Yeah, about 12 strokes worse than Uncle Renzy on that day!

If you have memories or stories about the 1937 graduates, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and I’ll put them on this Monongah High Alumni blog.

Memories or stories of 1937 MHS grads?

How many people do you know about in this assembling of 1937 Monongah High graduates?

And what memories to you have of them?

Marguerite Blocker married Bob Nichols, the Monongah barber who became the town mayor.

Ann Chicako married Richard Blocker.

Goldie DeFazio married Henry Lipinski.

Genevieve Manzo married a Lopez and moved to New Jersey.

Anna Jean McGraw married Don Scartz and moved to Georgia.

Eleanor Jean McCain married Bernard Kearns, another 1937 graduate, and lived in Monongah.

Joe Jacobin’s birth name was Joe Giacubeno.

Doris Morris married Joe Ullman and moved to Marietta, Ohio.

Geraldine Lee Morris married Steve Shermsley.

Gladys Cornelia Nixon married a Shepherd and moved to Miami, Florida.

Frances Olesky Fazio married Renzy Fazio and ran a Jackson Street grocery story with Renzy Fazio. Their children are David, whose wife, Cora Fazio, runs Fazio Eldercare in Stoney Lonesome; widow Steve Fazio; Irene Preolitti, married to Mike; and Mary Chris Ramsey, married to Tom.

They all live in Monongah.

Virginia Scudiere married W.K. Richards and moved to Michigan.

John DeMary lives in Rivesville with wife Sue.

William Fleming’s grandson, William Fleming III, played on 1958 and 1959 Monongah High teams that were undefeated but didn’t get into the state playoffs because they didn’t have enough points in the computer system set up to pick the teams. 

Bill III, Class of 1960, and Ron Haggerty later played football for WVU.

Leo Jacobin married Christine Marie Tropea, 

daughter of Tony and Rose Loss Tropea, who owned the Tropea Grocery on Camden Avenue (U.S. 19), and lived on Bridge Street till they both passed away. 

Their son, Leo Jacobin, Class of 1959, lives in Lakewood, Colorado, with wife Roberta and works in Denver.

If you have memories of any 1937 Monongah High graduates or are related to them, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and I’ll add your information to this Monongah High Alumni blog.