Monongah sure had a lot of groceries stores
and other businesses for such a small town.
I was reminded of that as I worked on
converting the 1967 Monongah High Black Diamond yearbook into an online album.
In the Advertisers section were photos of
Stanley Urban, Sr. and the Urban Grocery that he owned; Roman Prezioso, Sr. at
the Prezioso’s General Store that he owned; Amelia Shenasky behind the counter
of the P.P. Shenasky Grocery owned by her parents, Pete and Nell Shenasky;
Lionel Nichols at the Nichols Grocery that he owned until the mid-1970s (Lionel
passed away in 2014); Barbara Vozniak at Barbara’s Beauty Show that she
operated; and Joe Hanus at the Hanus Garage that he operated.
Later, Amelia and husband Bruce Zentz
opened up the Dairy Kone. Al Williamson delivered Shenasky groceries for
decades, and later Shop ‘N Save in Shinnston. Al’s parents were Ruth and Doug
Williamson. His sister, Kathy, is Class of 1978; his brother, Johnny Williamson, worked
at Meffe’s baron Jackson Street. Doug Williamson worked for years at a Alasky’s
in Farmington. Al Williamson lives in the small
house beside Amelia on appropriately named Shenasky Lane.
The Shenasky building today is owned
by J.L. Boggess, the son of Evelyn Kasper Boggess, Class of 1953, and husband
Okey Boggess, a retired coal miner, who live in the childhood Kasper home in
the Frogtown section of Monongah just before you get to Swisher Hill.
The late Amelia Ann Yerace Prezioso ran Prezioso Grocery at
the top of Jackson Street with husband, Roman. Their children are State Sen.
Roman Prezioso, Jr., Class of 1967, who lives in Fairmont with wife Deborah,
and Marie Prezioso of Charleston.
Penny Nichols Freshwater, Class of 1969, Lionel Nichols’ daughter, lives in Ocala, Florida. Her mother
was Thelma Fullen Nichols, also deceased.
Lionel was the oldest graduate at the 2012 and 2013 Monongah
High Alumni Reunions. Lionel's siblings, Bob Nichols,
the barber and former Monongah mayor; Fritz Nichols; and Eileen Nichols Wood
Stansberry are deceased. Lionel is Ramona Fullen Michalski’s uncle.
Joe Hanus ran the garage on the Jackson Street side of the
building on U.S. 19, across the street from Thoburn School. His parents ran the
Hanus Grocery on the other end of the building. The PNA Tavern run by the
Brzuzy family was between the two Hanus businesses.
Joe’s sisters were Ann Hanus Pavlik, widow of coal miner Mitch
Pavlik and later the girlfriend of my father, John W. Olesky, Sr., and Rose
Hanus Vozniak, widow of Edmund "Coozy" Vozniak.
Without photos were ads for Saban’s Service
Station, operated by Nick Saban, Sr. with current Alabama football coach Nick
Saban, Jr. on his staff, at U.S. 19 and Helen’s Run near Worthington.
Not in the 1967 yearbook but part of
Monongah’s business history was Joe Scully’s shoe repair shop, Patsy Forte’s
drug store, And Fazio’s Groceries on Jackson Street, Monongah Dairy King, Pettit’s
Beauty Salon on Main Street in Monongah, Mike Meffe’s Meffe Service Station, Monongah
Open Air Market, Champion Block, First National Bank of Monongah.
Tina Ann “Peaches” Aldridge DeMary, Class of 1945, and Frank
DeMary, Jr. ran DeMary Grocery in Monongah at the end of the Brookdale
Bridge. After Frank, Sr.
left Monongah, he opened a store on the hill on Country Club Rd. in
Fairmont, just above U.S. 19. In Monongah before moving
to Rivesville, Fred DeMary had a grocery store at the end of the sidewalk,
known as Ford Street in Brookdale, and was the basketball coach at East
Monongah Grade School.
Frank, Jr.’s parents were Frank Joseph DeMary, who passed away
in 1972, and Lena Duva DeMary, who passed away in 1986. His siblings are Louise
DeMary Lusi of Clearwater, Florida and Rose Ann DeMary Flore, Class of 1943,
married to Robert and living in Princeton, Rhode Island.
Julie and Gene Loss Carlot operated Carlot’s Grill across the
street from Monongah High.
Monzo Grocery was across U.S. 19 and Thoburn School from P.P.
Shenasky Grocery, with a lighted bocce ball court next to it.
There was Consol’s Champion Store, which reminds me of Tennessee
Ernie Ford’s “I Owe My Soul to the Company Store” because so many miners owed
most of their paychecks to it by payday, and the A&P Store just off the
center of town in East Monongah.
In Worthington, Hertzog Drug Store was a Worthington landmark
for more than a half-century. Virgil Hertzog founded the store in 1922. It was
famous for its homemade ice cream. His daughter, Marylee Hertzog Gwinn, Class
of 1948, lives in Rockville, Maryland. A son, Richard Hertzog, is deceased.
The Demus family was famous in Worthington for producing
football players for Monongah High and Italian sausage sold at the Demus Market
that closed in 2009. By then it was run by Nick Demus, Class of 1945, a former
Lion gridder.
And I’m sure I haven’t touched on other businesses in Monongah.
There were so many. Incredible!
If you remember other long-ago businesses in Monongah, email
John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com and I’ll
add them to this article.
