CATCHING UP WITH BOB COTTRILL, CLASS OF 1951

 

Bob Cottrill, Class of 1951, made a most welcome Christmastime phone call to me and we caught up on a lot of things about other Monongah High graduates.

Bob exchanges phone calls with Arlene Marteney Decker Edgell, Frances Wimer Miller and Duane Harbert, all in Bob’s Class of 1951. Arlene lives in Fairmont, Frances in Tulsa with husband Ken Miller and Duane is a widower living in Marlton, New Jersey. 

I got together with Arlene and husband Okey Edgell, Class of 1944, at Monongah High reunions and the gathering of Lions I arranged in 2014 at the Three Ways Inn in Fairmont in the recent decade. 

Duane and I communicate with each other regularly, too. Arlene has another birthday coming up on January 18. 

Duane’s mother, Goldie, taught at Worthington Grade School. Duane’s father, Frank Harbert, was principal of Thoburn Elementary in Monongah. Duane’s brother, John Harbert, Class of 1955, and his wife, Karen Colvin Harbert, also class of 1955, are deceased.

Bob also had a reunion a few years back with Delores Vingle, part of the musical Vingle family at Monongah High, “a great singer” who also lives in Florida.

Arlene, Bob said, “is having a hard time with her health problems.”

Bob was the toughest player on the Lions’ football team, knocking out more than one tackler who tried to stop him. Bob didn’t evade tacklers. He mowed them down.

Bob fondly remembers how “Big Frank Michalski,” as Bob calls him, and Bob would pair up on defense. Bob said he told Frank, who was my protector against playground bullies at Sts. Peter and Paul School who made fun of my cleft palate speech defense (one warning from Frank and they never did it again):

“You do the body blocks (to take our offensive linemen) and I’ll do the rest.” Big Frank did. Bob did. Big Frank’s widow is Ramona Fullen Michalski, Class of 1949, still living on the hill of Bridge Street Extension just outside the Monongah town limits.

Bob said he was reminiscing with his son, Randy, who lives in Tampa “three hours from us” in Melbourne, Florida, about his Monongah High football days, which came before Monongah High won 5 state titles in 1952, 1955, 1968, 1969 and 1973.

Bob’s daughter, Rhonda, lives 9 miles from Bob and his second wife, Thelma. Bob's first wife was Barbara Henderson, whose best friend was Thelma, who still visits family and friends in North Carolina where she was living when she took trips to see Barbara and Bob.

BBob noBoBob no longer drives because of macular degeneration and no longer jitterbugs after he fell doing that in 2019 when he tried to slide and his “wrong kind of shoes” didn’t go along with his move. Lions opponents’ defenses couldn’t take him down, but his cracked thigh bone did. “Other than my walking,” Bob said, “everyone is spot on” health-wise.

“My traveling days are over,” Bob said, “and I’m not driving any more.”

Bob worked with his father in the coal mines while attending Monongah High. He also drove a Marion County school bus to help pay for his Fairmont State education and helped Steven “Bucky” Satterfield, get a job as a Marion County school bus driver, too. 

Bob attended college on the GI Bill after he left the Navy in 1956. Bob graduated from Fairmont State in three years, began a teaching career in biology and general science and coaching at Ohio's Wapakoneta High School – astronaut Neil Armstrong’s hometown.

Just as I credit math/algebra/geometry teacher Mary Turkovich for instilling discipline in me, Bob credits Kathleen Snoderly, a social studies teacher at Monongah High, for instilling in him the importance of discipline if you want to be a good teacher. 

Bob was an education administrator in Northfield School District in Summit County, Ohio, about 15 miles from where I live in Tallmadge. He became an expert on school financing and integration.

CATCHING UP WITH LEATRICE YOKAY GREASER

 

Leatrice Yokay Greaser, Class of 1950, and I exchanged “Merry Christmas” in a phone call today.

Leatrice, who grew up in Carolina, lives in Fairmont. I visit her almost every time I come to Marion County to visit my sister, Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, who lives in Rivesville, or friends and former classmates in Monongah and Fairmont, or the annual Monongah High Alumni Banquet.

Leatrice has been in the hospital several times in recent months and is confined to her home. Physical therapists and nurses visit her. She’s house-bound except for her trips to the hospital.

“Nobody” in her family still is alive, Leatrice tells me. Her brother, John Yokay, Jr., passed away in January 2022. Their sister, Patty Yokay Maddox, Class of 1948, passed away in 2020.

“Carolina and Monongah High are my best memories,” Leatrice said. I second that emotion. In my case that would be Monongah High and Monongah, where I was born in my grandparents’ house on Walnut Street in 1932 amid the Great Depression, then moved to a Thomas Street rental, then to nearest home to that on Church Street that my parents purchased. It’s the one next to the pearl in a seashell Christmas street light that I purchased.

Leatrice’s 90^th birthday was November 23. Like me, she was born in 1932, 18 days after I was born.

Leatrice and Patty Urban Utz, also Class of 1950, phone each other regularly. Patty is taking care of her ailing husband, John Utz, a West Point graduate who retired as a Lt. Colonel. John flew helicopters in combat for two tours in Vietnam before he met Patty after his 1950 high school graduation.

Leatrice took care of her husband, Bob Greaser, till he passed away. And Bob’s mother, too.

I still call Leatrice “The Kathryn Grayson of Monongah High” because Lea’s singing voice at MHS reminded me of the singing actress in movies. Leatrice had her own show on Fairmont radio WMMS where she sang with Mary Jo Forte as her pianist.

If you want to wish Leatrice a Merry Christmas, too, here phone number is (304) 363-4858.

AMAZING SUCCESS STORY OF DONNA SAYRE BARFIELD DESPITE HEAVY ODDS IN HER CHILDHOOD

 

Donna Sayre Barfield, Class of 1970, is an attorney in Palm Beach, Florida at the law firm which bears her name, Barfield McCain Ayoub.

A real estate law firm “Protecting private property rights since 1987.”

Donna posted that her boys “are in Virginia and Connecticut at boarding schools.”

John Maddox, who initiated the search to find out what happened to her, told me: “She was almost my foster sister when I was 6 years old. She was part of my family for about a year and a half before we had to giver her up to them (Jack and Dorothy Haddox, who adopted Donna when her name was Susie Haddox). We used to visit them for about 5 or 6 years and I watched her grow up till she left grade school.”

Cheryl Boydoh Fordyce, Class of 1963, widow of Dick Fordyce, posted: “I think you are talking about my neighbors’ adopted daughter. I have no idea what happened to her. She just kinda left.” Cheryl and Dick married in 1963. He passed away in 2020 after 56 years of wedded bliss.

They have four daughters, Myra Jones in Pennsylvania, Kimberly Zainea in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jamie Davis in Cambridge,  Ohio and Paula Hill in Columbus, Ohio.

Cheryl has 9 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Cheryl added: “Dick and I spent the first 6 years of our marriage in West Virginia and the next 38 years in Cumberland, Maryland where we raised our daughters. We moved to Grand Rapids in 2006 to be near one of our daughters (Kimberly) four years ago after Dick’s health declined and we built an addition to our daughter’s home.

“I loved growing up in Monongah.  My parents also graduated from Monongah High and my dad was Mayor of Monongah in the 60s.”

Tammy Wells, who married Donnie Wells, Jr., Class of 1978, remembers when “my husband bought Jack and Dorothy’s house off her in 2006.”

Donnie’s father, Donnie, Sr., Class of 1950, set up a blind date for his Fairmont Westinghouse co-worker, David Straight, with another 1955 graduate, my sister Jacqueline Olesky, who was in teacher Mildred Berry’s home room at Monongah High with Donnie. Jackie became Mrs. David Straight and they had four children (one passed away months after his birth) and four grandchildren. Dave passed away in 1998.

Donnie, Sr.’s siblings were Lindie Wells, Joe Wells, who married Peggy Clayton, Class of 1951, Mary Alice Wells Emerson and Pauline Wells Huffman, all deceased.

 

To complete this great story of a girl passed from family to family till her adoption to become a very successful attorney in Florida, John Maddox posted this happy news: “We have connected. THANK YOU ALL. You are good people.”

 

Two childhood friends and almost foster siblings found each other after about 60 years thanks to a platoon of Monongah High graduates who put together pieces of information for them. This is the kind of happy ending that makes my hours of efforts on this blog so rewarding. And 4,000 hits a year on this web site tells me that Lions from California to Maine to Florida read this blog because Lions, like elephants, never forget and like to keep track of their former classmates!

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. CATCHING UP WITH JUNIATA NICKERSON

 

2020 post by Juniata Nickerson, Class of 1978, just show showed up on my Facebook page in 2022! I had asked for more information after the passing of Juniata’s sister, Mary Lou, in 2020.

Juniata Nickerson was among 31 foster children of the Rev. Howard and Madeline DeNoon, who married Calvin Wilson after the Rev. Howard O. DeNoon passed away. She also was Calvin’s widow.

Madeline’s parents were Orval Watts and Minnie Cooker Watts. Madeline, who passed away at the age of 96 in 2016, was predeceased by 20 of her foster children. Foster children will alive when Madeline passed away were Juanita Nickerson, Sharon Kay Morgan, Helen Crites, Angie Crites, Penny Retester, Pinki S. Thompson, James Hess, Mack Hess, Harold Hess, Bonnie Hess and Lloyd Hess.

 

Juniata works at Pierpoint Community & Technical College. She is a an accessioner at LapCorp lab and worked at Manchin Clinic, part of the Manchin family that includes Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia. Also worked at WomenCare, Inc. and John Deere Tractors.

Sheldon Nickerson is Juanita Nickerson’s son. Ana Brown is Juanita’s sister.

Maddie Nickerson is Juanita’s daughter, who once sang the National Anthem at Monongahfest. Chloe Renee Nickerson also is Juanita’s daughter.

Charles Nickerson is Juanita’s husband. He has retired and has a little side job driving for Toothman Sowers.

Sister Ana lives in Ohio with her husband Brownie and daughters Traci and Norma.

Daughter Maddie works for Fairmont Federal Credit Union.

Son Sheldon is a minister at Covenant church in Fairmont.

Daughter Chloe is a phlebotomist at Fairmont Medical and is pursuing her nursing degree in the fall.

CATCHING UP WITH NATHALEEN CAMEON OLIVERIO

 

Nathaleen Cameon Oliverio, Class of 1948, who lives in East Chicago, Indiana, is the Welcome Ambassador at Brookdale Murray seniors complex.

She is the widow of Sam Oliverio.

Nat has been living in Brookdale Murray since 2019.

She has 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Nat also crochets scarves for the residents. She says: “You must do what you like. Get a job you enjoy because it makes life so much easier.”

 

Nat said that her favorite job before retirement was working in the deli and we're told she did such a good job that there are still customers that ask about her!

 

Comments from Brookdale Murray residents about Nat:

”Such a kind and creative lady!”

“Love our Nat. She is so much fun to talk to.”

“Love this lady to pieces. Sweet lady.”

“We love our Ms. Nat and so blessed to have her as a part of our Brookdale Murray family!”

Brookdale has nearly 700 seniors living complexes in 41 states including a Brookdale Montrose, Brookdale Bath and Brookdale Barberton.

There’s a Jane Stone bench at Brookdale Montrose, formerly Chambrel, where Jane and husband Paul Stone, parents of author Paula Stone Tucker, once lived.

How did Nathaleen wind up in Indiana?

“I had three sons and I didn’t want them going into the coal mines,” Nat told me. “I had heard the whistle blowing and seen miners carried out of the mines, injured, and I just didn’t want that for them.”

 

So Nat and husband Sam Oliverio went to Indiana more than 60 years ago to make a new life away from the dangerous coal mines.

The sons are Dominick, Lowell and Tom. Dominick became a psychologist who worked in federal prisons. Tom became an Illinois State Trooper captain. Lowell became a police officer for Lowell, Indiana.

 

Nat's siblings are Linda Cameon Mezzanotte, Class of 1966; Bill Cameon, Class of 1960; Virginia Cameon Mezzanotte, Class of 1953; Pete Cameon, Class of 1958; and Albert Cameon, Class of 1947; and the late Arthur, Joe and Rudy Cameon.

 

They are the children of Clyde and Maggie Cameon.

CATCHING UP WITH THE BRZUZY FAMILY OF MONONGAH

 

At my request Regina Brzuzy, daughter of Stephen and Eva Blanche Hostutler Brzuzy, provided updated information on the Brzuzy family of Monongah.

Regina is retired after being a kitchen helper at WVU Hospitals, a Big Lots cashier. She graduated from Fairmont East High and Fairmont State University and lives in Fairmont.

Stephen and Eva met at what then was the First National Bank. Eva worked there and Stephen was a customer who eventually would only go to Eva when he came to the bank, where Eva began her days there in 1964.

Stephen and Eva, who later worked at A&P and J.C. Murphey in Fairmont over the years, were married in 1967. Regina, born in 1968, was their only child. Eva, who passed away in 2010, is buried in Fairmont’s Mount Carmel Cemetery, sometimes called Holy Cross Cemetery.

Their father, Wladyslaw “Walter,” owned and operated PNA Tavern, as in Polish National Alliance, in the same businesses under one roof with Hanus Grocery and Joe Hanus Garage across the street from Thoburn School and down the block from P.P. Shenasky and Monzo grocery stores and a block away from Fazio Grocery at the bottom of Jackson Street hill.

There were 9 Brzuzy children born to Stephania Zuzak Brzuzy and Wladyslaw/Walter.

Regina’s parents passed away in 2015 (Stephen) and 2010 (Eva).

Stanley Brzuzy passed away in 2014.

 

Walter Brzuzy, Class of 1950, passed away in 1986 in Monaca, Pennsylvania.

 

Edith Brzuzy Bland, mother of Stephania Zuzak Brzuzy, passed away in 2008 after moving to Texas.

 

Winnifred Few, born in New York City, was Edith’s daughter. Winifred is an NYC Cathedral High and Harvard University graduate HHand lives in Dickinson, Texas.

 

The late John Brzuzy lived in Richmond, Indiana and was a star athlete at Fairmont West when the Brzuzy family moved to Country Club Road in Fairmont. Johnny retired from the Scott Boy's Club in 1992 as the executive director. He was a Fairmont State College graduate with a passion for golf, fishing and hunting. Johnny had 4 children and 3 stepchildren.

 

Also deceased are sisters Freda Brzuzy Rogers, Class of 1945, Edith Brzuzy Bland and Laura Brzuzy Yereb; brothers Chester Brzuzy and Edwin Brzuzy; and sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law Eva Blanche Banny Hostutler  Brzuzy, Robert Rogers, Ruth Ann Brzuzy, Ralph Yereb and Cecelia Brzuzy.

 

Son Walter Brzuzy, in my Class of 1950, was houseman for the poker games at the PNA Tavern. When the West Virginia Highway Patrol made too many visits after getting complaints from wives unhappy with their husbands losing so much coal miner money in the poker games, the Brzuzy family an enclosed room behind the bar, out of sight of everyone, with a buzzer at the bar that got pushed when the police showed up so that the poker players removed the money from the table and the cops had no proof of illegal gambling.

I remember the day that Walter Brzuzy had my father beat with the cards showing in 5-card stud, plus 2 down cards, and bet about 2 weeks pay anyway when he raised Walter’s bet. Walter folded. My father never told me what poker hand he had, even on his deathbed in my Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio home where spent his final 7 months. That was the poker code. Never tell so they don’t know if it was a bluff or the real thing. My father, John W. Olesky, Sr., was so good at poker, memorizing cards, that the mad money he gave my mother when he got home at 2 a.m., which she put away, provided $2,200 to upgrade our Church Street kitchen and living room and floor furnace.

Walter was an excellent pitcher for the Monongah High baseball team. And basketball shooter from what today would be the 3-point line despite a low ceiling that most visiting players hit when they took their long shots. 

Another son, Johnny Brzuzy, father of Stephanie Few, was well-known and highly regarded for what he did for Boys Club programs in Indiana.

Regina retired 9 years ago because her MS became too difficult.

CATCHING UP WITH FRANK FRANZE . . . AGAIN

 

I got a call from the blue from Frank Franze, Class of 1950, who lives in Slidell, Louisiana. We had a warm and fuzzy chat about our lives today and memories of our days of roaming as Monongah High students in the faceitiously named Gang That Terrorized Marion County. Frank and Donald “Jake” Halpenny were the chaffeurs for the roaming teen gang.

We would sneak into drive-ins (except for two who had to be in the vehicle), “borrow” watermelons to eat while skinny-dipping in the river and got thrown out of a Clarksburg theater, but I put that one on Ronnie “Cooley” Delovich, with his “Be nice; don’t fight” remark to the theater manager.

 

Others in the gang were the late Lawrence “Sonny” Godby, Lawrence and Regina Boone Godby’s son and the late Jackie Godby Lusczynski’s brother; Steven “Bucky” Satterfield, who lives in St. Albans after retiring from a long career as a West Virginia Highway Patrolman; Anthony “Tony” Eates, who is retired and living in Fairmont with wife Lucy; the late Robert “Satch” Kasper, who had a successful career sitting at the bargaining table for Ford Motor Company before retiring to his homes in South Lyon and Grand Lake (Presque Isle), Michigan; the late Joe Manzo, who survived the Korean war; the late Tom “Judge” Starcher, who began his prowling in Carolina; and me, the runt of the litter.

Frank no longer drives a car after his brother-in-law had a heart attack and drove off the road and into the woods with his wife in the truck with him. Fortunately a first responder was driving behind the brother-in-law and went into action immediately. But the brother-in-law passed away a month later. So Frank decided to stop driving “because I didn’t want to kill anybody.”

Another member of the gang was the late Bob “Satch” Kasper, my friend for 84 years who exchanged 2 Christmas cards with me since 1955. Frank hadn’t heart about Bob’s passing in March so I was the bearer of the sad news. “I liked Bob,” Frank said.

Frank hasn’t been in contact with fellow Lions recently. “You’re the first I’ve talked to in 4 years,” he told me.

Frank has “a ladyfriend who cooks, cleans and drives me to the doctor.” Frank had been taking care of another ladyfriend who had a stroke till it got to be too much of a drain on him even though he’s “doing fine.”

Frank’s daughters in Slidell and Alabama call to check on him daily. “I got out to dinner a little bit,” Frank said. “I live pretty good.”

Frank married 3 times but was never divorced because he out-lived all three. He survived a leg infection in 2015, too, caused by banging his shin on a fishing dock. Hardy stuff, Frank.

Frank grew up in Four States, moved to Jasper, Texas and, finally Slidell.

Kathryn Ann Manuel Marshall, Class of 1960, is Frank’s cousin.  

It you want to catch up with Frank and share Monongah High memories his phone number is (985) 201-7882.

CATCHING UP WITH BOB COTTRILL, CLASS OF 1949

 

Bob Cottrill, Class of 1949, is enjoying his second marriage to Thelma after his first wife, super nurse Barbara Jean Henderson Cottrill, passed away in 2007. Bob and Thelma live in Pine Creek, which is about 70 miles south of Melbourne and 28 miles directly west of Fort Pierce with its Atlantic Ocean beach.

 

Perhaps the toughest ballcarrier in Monongah High football history (just ask the dozens of tacklers he laid out) has a soft spot for “great” Thelma who is “a good person.”

 

Bob owned Cottrill’s Mountain, 120 acres near Burnsville, West Virginia that he turned over to his two grandchildren.

 

Bob jitterbugged his way out of playing golf a few years ago. It seems his shoes and the dance floor didn’t get along and the flop during energetic dancing broke his thigh.

 

Bob knew Thelma for 22 years because she was a good friend of Bob’s wife, Barbara. Between wives he dated children’s book author Kathy for 4 years before his 2011 wedding to Thelma. Bob will be attending Kathy’s funeral services this week. She passed away last week.

 

Bob’s golfing partners the Bennetts, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina like Thelma, helped bring Bob and Thelma back into each other’s lives.

 

Bob’s grandson, Chris Barnes, is a Kent high school and University of Akron graduate with a title insurance business in Medina County, which borders the Summit County where I live in Tallmadge, Ohio. Chris’ mother is Bob’s daughter, Rhonda. He works for Fidelity Mortgage and Title. Bob also has sons Rob in Atlanta and Randy in Tampa.

Paula JoAnn Cottrill, Bob’s half-sister (same father, different mothers), passed away after a 2016 auto accident.

 

Bob keeps in touch with fellow Lions not named John Olesky, too. Arlene Marteney Edgell, Class of 1951, married to Okey Edgell, Class of 1944; Duane Harbert, Class of 1951; and, till she passed away, Frances Wimer Miller, who moved to Tulsa from West Virginia.

 

CATCHING UP WITH MARY CATANIA HEYWOOD

 

Mary Catania Heywood, Class of 1945, who lives in Covena, California, reports “my health is poor” and “I am not in touch with anyone in Monongah” any more.

 

Her sister, Carmella Catania Allard, widow of Air Force veteran Omer Allard, passed away in 2018, making Mary the last surviving sibling of the crowd of children on Thomas Street two doors down from the Olesky rental, with the Frank and “Boss” Mangino family between the Olesky and Catania houses.

 

 

Angelo Catania, Class of 1943, a few years before he passed away, took his daughter, Paula Catania, who retired as vice president of Martin Brinkerhoff Associates in Covina, to see the former Catania residence on Thomas Street. “I love the entire street,” Paula said.

 

Mary added:

 

“Angelo and Paula were in Cleveland for our great-nephew’s wedding and, from there, went to Monongah for several days. Your ballfield, as you call it, was something he found very changed. He just couldn’t believe how different it looked.

 

“They saw so many changes. They had a great time.  They brought back pictures of the houses on Thomas Street. Hard to believe the changes. However, he said they all looked nice.”

 

Then Mary gave me perhaps the greatest compliment of my life:

 

“It's beyond me how many hours you spend doing the MHS blog.  Without contradiction, it is excellent, very newsworthy and what a wonderful updater.”

 

It’s just my way of paying back Lions everyone for the marvelous childhood I had in Monongah with the entire town my surrogate when I roamed the streets. If I did a misdeed, the neighbors straightened me out, reported it to my parents and, when I got home and my father stood there with his miner’s belt to whack me, I didn’t ask why. I knew the people trying to keep me from killing myself were at it again.

 

I think God, Sister Agnes and Mary Turkovich, who embarked me on my 43-year newspaper career, were just preparing me to pay back with this Monongah High Alumni blog venture, 25 years after my 1996 retirement from newspapers in Charleston and Williamson, West Virginia, St. Petersburg, Florida, and Dayton and Akron, Ohio.

 

The Brinkerhoff firm’s writers, producers, artists and editors produce award-winning entertainment spectacles in Los Angeles, Paris, Orlando, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai to help businesses woo clients and to sell their products. Its clients include Honda, Accura, Mitsubishi, Six Flags and Ringling Brothers.

 

It was Angelo who convinced his siblings and their father Mandala Catania to make the move from Thomas Street in Monongah to Covina, which he discovered and fell in love with during his Army Coast Artillery training days of World War II.

By then, Mandala was the widow of Schiro Catania and Covina reminded Mandala of his native Italy.

 

Alex Catania, Class of 1944; Mary Catania Heywood, Class of 1945; Josephine Catania, Class of 1952; and their father, Joseph, joined Angelo, Class of 1943, in the expedition to a new land and a new life.

 

Angelo married a Monongah girl, Pauline Layne Catania, who passed away in 2001. Paula was named for her mother, Pauline.

 

Mary is the widow of Arthur Heywood, who passed away in October 2015.

 

Angelo’s sister, Carmella Catania Allard, Class of 1947, wound up in San Antonio because her husband, Omer, still was in the Air Force when the Catania migration took place. He retired after a pair of decades in The Wild Blue Yonder branch.

 

Alex died in 2007, Josephine in 2009 and Carmella in 2017. 

 

Alex Catania sponsored the Confirmation of Frank Franze, Class of 1950, who lives in Slidell, Louisiana near his daughters.

 

Angelo and Alex once owned and operated the Sinclair Station on U.S. 19 behind the Thomas Street homes’ row of garages and adjacent to the Lawrence and Regina Godby residence. They covered up our “ball field” to put up the building.

 

The Manginos also moved, to the Germantown section of Philadelphia in the 1950s. When I visited the Manginos in my summer hitchhiking tour that took me from Monongah to Chicago (family friends from Italy lived there) to Philadelphia, Boss Mangino slapped my face and said, “Go home; you’re mother’s worried.” Mom was Lena Futten Olesky, born in Pellizzano, Italy, who regularly fainted over my childhood escapades, thereby earning her place in Heaven.

 

If you want to make Mary’s day, you can email her a holiday greeting at heywood1am@verizon.net or post the holiday greeting on her Mary Catania Heywood Facebook page. Or send her a holiday note to:

 

Mary Catania Heywood

833 S Fenimore Avenue

Covina, California 91723

 

Better yet, phone her at (818) 339-4702 and wish her happy holidays and catch up on your Monongah High days with her. She’ll love it and you’ll feel good about it, too.

CATCHING UP WITH JOHN VOZNIAK

 

John Vozniak, Class of 1959, who worked as an electrician at Tygart River Mines and lives in Monongah, married Rivesville High graduate Catherine (Cathy) Ann Mencil Vozniak,who passed away in 2008. She is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Fairmont.

John’s parents were John Vozniak, Sr. and Nellie Vesick Vozniak. Cathy’s parents were John and Mary Elizabeth Mencil.

Cathy worked at Community Bank and Trust in Fairmont, attended Holy Spirit Catholic  Church in Monongah, was a member of the Holy Spirit Ladies Society and was legendary for her Easter eggs. She was named Monongah Citizen of the Year in 2007 for working with Girl Scouts, Brownies, Monongah Elementary Santa’s Workshops and charity fundraisers.

Cathy and John had two daughters, Sherry Vozniak of Monongah and Denise Vozniak Holcomb of White Hall.

On the thank-you card after Cathy passed away the family wrote:

“She suffered from Ruematoid Arthritis, a very crippling, debilatating and painful disease, for most of her later life but never let it affect her positive, happy outlook on life.

“She always had a need to help others regardeless how ill or helpless she was herself! She named Monongah Parade Marshal for MonongahFest several years ago for her work in the community.

“Right up to the end, she was helping others! She was a remarkable woman!”

Best tribute I’ve ever read.

Daughter Sherry, a 1986 North Marion and 1991 Fairmont State graduate who lives in Monongah, told me:

“My parents and Tom and Phyllis Shelosky have been friends even before I was born. That was probably their best friends and my mom's closest friend before she died.

“When the Martinka Mines closed down they all went to work in Hueytown, Alabama for three years along with Norma and Dean Cain. The wives had a really good time while the men were at work. My mom said that was a vacation. Of course she missed her family and and son but it was a new adventure for her.

“Have lots of adventures and stories with Tom and Phyllis over the years that I can remember so I'm sure my mom and dad had many more. We are still very close with them and their five children and many grandchildren.”

Tom and Phyllis have been married for more than 50 years!

Tom’s sister, Becky Shelosky Carvillano, Class of 1961, who lives in Fairmont, posted:

“They met in Kingmont, worked at City National Bank and Martinka mines and moved to Alabama when Martinka closed. They lived in Monongah on Saint Barbara’s Road,” which is parallel to Willow Road off U.S. 19 before you get to Swisher Hill when you are driving south toward Worthington.

Tom and Phyllis have 5 children, 8 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Tom and Phyllis’ children are Sts. Peter and Paul School and 1982 North Marion High grad Monica Shelosky Cochran, Greg Shelosky, Brenda Shelosky Myers, Brian Shelosky and Jeff Shelosky.

Tom’s other siblings are Barbara Shelosky Willis, Class of 1968, who is married and living in San Diego, California, and the late Bernie Shelosky, Class of 1965, who passed away in 2013.

The Shelosky clan began in Poland as Szydlowski. Like so many, at Ellis Island the name got changed to something people who speak only English could deal with.

St. Stanislaus Church in Monongah had a stained glass window with “Szydlowski” on it, the surname of the ancestors in Poland.

Stanley “Strob” Shelosky, Class of 1958, and George Walter Shelosky, Jr., son of George Shelosky, Class of 1932, were brothers. Strob passed away in 1993, his wife Julia Lazorick Shelosky in 2013, the same year that Bernie Shelosky, Class of 1964, passed away.

 

The late Mitch Vozniak, who married Barbara Prezioso Vozniak, is John’s brother. Both Mitch and Barbara are deceased.

Their son, 1962 North Marion grad Joe Pat Vozniak, passed away in 2016 in Florida. Another son, David Vozniak, survives.

The late Chester Vozniak also is Mitch's brother. Chester married Mildred Paknik Vozniak, Class of 1948, also deceased.

Mildred was the daughter of Samuel Paknik, Class of 1934, and Anna Cernak Paknik. She was married to Chester (22 October 1929-13 July 2012) on 14 July 1956 by Rev. Victor P. Ortino.

Another brother, Walter Vozniak, also predeceased Mitch.

Mitch was on the 1952 Monongah High state football championship team, one of 5 MHS teams to accomplish that feat (the others were in 1955, 1968, 1969 and 1973, the year that David Vozniak was on the state championship team).

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.

Barbara’s sister, Lavinia Rose Prezioso Edmond, Class of 1960, is the mother of Dr. Michael Edmond, head of WVU Medicine and a pioneer in c.diff treatment using fecal matter.

Monongah High had plenty of Vozniaks:

 

Annette Vozniak Narog, Class of 1953.

 

Irene Vozniak Stroud, Class of 1954.

 

Eddie Vozniak was on the 1961 Monongah High football team.

 

Rose Hanus Vozniak, Class of 1938, was married to Edmund "Coozy" Vozniak. Rose’s sister, Ann Hanus Pavlick, who married Mitch Pavlick, and my father, John W. Olesky, Sr., were a couple after Mitch and my mother, Lena Futten Olesky, passed away. Ann visited my dad in my Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio home during his final seven months of life while my late wife, My Mona Lisa, and I took care of him.

I met Ann and Mitch’s granddaughter, Michele Pavlick Todd, in The Villages, Florida during my 2016 annual winter there. The late Junior Pavlick, Ann and Mitch’s son, is Michele’s father.

Ann’s parents were the owners of the Hanus Grocery across U.S. 19 from Thoburn School in the same building just off Jackson Street as the Brzuzy family’s PNA Tavern and the Joe Hanus Garage operated by Ann’s brother.

After reading the Catching Up With John Vozniak article below, daughter Sherry Vozniak added additional memories:

Very very nice article. Once things slow down here at the house and me and Dad get over this terrible thing cold or flu that we have that I will write a very personal one about my dad for a future article. I don't know if you knew this but he started working as a boy at Urban grocery store as a box boy and then later became the butcher. At the Catholic school that my sister and I attended from kindergarten to 8th grade. Monongah Catholic we had to take our lunch because they didn't have hot lunch, everybody else had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday. But my sister and I always had ham, turkey or some sort of meat sandwich. We just thought that was the worst thing in the world. In reality, that was probably the best thing but little did we know. I have plenty of Cruise vacation stories to tell you about. When my mother was living we would take a cruise every 6 months. At least twice a year. We visited wonderful places such as everywhere in the Caribbean that you can think of Belize, Atlantis, Costa Rica oh, we actually went into the rainforest, Honduras, all the Caribbean islands, Turks and Caicos. We actually stopped during a cruise in Key West during Fantasy week boy was that an education to some West Virginians. We partied some but we've never seen anything like this. Thankfully our ship left before nightfall because the daytime partying on the streets was Unreal and and I had to take my 12 year old and put him back on the boat because people did not wear clothes they just body painted themselves and that's what they were. Boy did we become educated. And Duval Street is known for partying in the bars but they party in the streets during this week. My parents just about missed the boat oh, they were the last ones on they were calling their name over the loudspeaker of the boat in case they were on the boat and miss them and as soon as they got on they pulled up the Gangplank and we took off. I'm not sure which one was in the wheelchair by dad or my mother when they got on the boat!!! But they both said they had a wonderful time. I blame the whole thing on my sister Denise she was supposed to be taking care of them. But one of our best times usually is when we stopped at the private islands, usually my sister and my dad go for bike rides in the early mornings. My mom finds a lounge chair and her Cabana Boy, then my dad finds a shade tree I find a raft and just float all day because there is no waves and it is clear blue and so scenic. My son build sandcastles or bury Pap in the sand or his cousins. And my sister usually goes scuba diving with my son and her husband. And they have the best barbecue lunch ever. Covid has put such a dent in our vacations. Since my mom passed we've only been going once a year or so. But we do miss her when we go and we always do a toast to her. But cruising is such the way to go. I hope that you have gone. If not you need to make sure it's on your bucket list. Once again very nice article. Thank you John

Just keep them. I will send a more personal blog about my dad in the future. I promise it will be just about him and his life. I have some really good stories and memories. Being the youngest of four boys. His life was different than the others. His dad died young so he had to pick up the slack in his family and help out . And my parents And really instilled some great values in US us. They always told us they were going to give us one thing that no one could ever take away from us. That was an education and they paid for it 100% regardless how long it took. And there's a great story behind that for me and my sister. Especially my mother driving me to College on my first day after I refuse to go. But I ended up with two degrees after all was said and done and would had two more if they would have let me go on one more semester but told me they were not going to pay for anymore semesters and I had to get a real job that was after 5 years. That was after I flunked out of my first semester in college I only ended up with one class. I found out what college life is all about "partying". My sister was going to be a teacher k through eight with a specialization in art and even had an art show when she was younger and sold paintings to a lady in Vegas because she said one day you will be famous . And then just as she was getting ready to go into the block she got into the nursing program. And she had to make a decision to be a nurse or to be a teacher and have her summers off . Well my sister said had a very difficult decision deciding . But if you will look on my sister's Facebook page you will see she just got recognize by wvuh last year for 25 years of service there . But due to covid they gave her a dinner for two with her and her husband a certificate Sarris chocolate and some other things to recognize her years of service just with them. So since you left nursing school she's been with them. Sorry it has been a rough rough couple of months. I hope your family gets better soon. It has been a terrible year I've been to the doctor twice in a week and I'm still fighting it. Now my dad has it. I wish your family well wishes. And I will get all these memories and stories complied and sent them too you one day. You will get a kick out of me sneeking down the alley down behind our house when I, 3 years old too see my Dad at work right after my mom had my sister. The Urban kids let me play with the cash register, gave me candy and the customers gave me their change. Then they finally told my Dad that I was there since he was in the back in the butcher shop. Then he would call my mom and ask if she knew where I was. Of course she said I was playing in my room! WRONG! of course, I got beat with the fly swatter when I got home but that did not stop me from sneaking down the alley a few weeks later to see my Dad and to visit the Urban Kids! Yes, I was the bad kid! I hope you and your family have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving! I promise to work with my sister and gather some great John Vozniak memories soon!!!!