John Veasey, with the Fairmont Times for nearly six decades, is moving to Sun City, South Carolina with his wife, Rita.

Del Webb began Sun City Hilton Head in 1995. It is the largest active adult community in South Carolina. There are more than 8,000 homes and 54 holes of golf. You need to be 50 or older to live there.

John once was the Times’ Editor, the captain who guided the newsroom, and in later years was a popular columnist.

I fed John many items about Monongah and Monongah High people over the years, which he used in his column. As John put it, “Olesky could be called Monongah School’s official secretary as he keeps the Times West Virginian alert to every death, marriage and other thing going on in his hometown.”

He also wrote a laudatory article about me, headlined “Olesky leads an interesting life.”  John recalled how I originated the West Virginia Baseball All-State Team selections in 1955, while sports editor of the Williamson Daily News. And how my favorite country among the 56 that I have visited is Thailand where I got to pet an uncaged, unfettered tiger. Not many people have THAT thrill, huh?

John also wrote about the time in The Villages, Florida, where Paula and I spend our winters for 3 to 4 months, when I sat down at a table at the West Virginia Club meeting and the woman across the table, it turned out, was the granddaughter of the woman who dated my father after my mother died.

That was Ann Pavlick’s granddaughter and my father was John W. Olesky, Sr. -- 864 miles from Monongah and we met for the first time.

Sometimes, life can be amazing. And John Veasey in his column was fantastic at telling us about the amazing things that happened to Marion Countians.

When I was #2 man on the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News sports department in the 1960s I tried to hire John away from the Fairmont Times with a fat pay raise. He appreciated the offer, but turned me down because the Times was where he wanted to spend the rest of his career.

Bon voyage, John, from another John.

Maybe we’ll cross paths again since Sun City is only 280 miles from The Villages, where you need to be 55 or older to buy a home. 125,000 senior citizens live in The Villages, often described as “Disneyland for adults.”

Milton Hurley, married since 1983 to Debbie Weaver Hurley, Class of 1979, retired after 40 years as a coal miner.

Debbie wrote:

“Well, today is a big day for us. My husband has retired from the coal mines after 40 years and 13 days of working underground!!

“The last 3.5 years he worked as a Longwall Production supervisor and actually being away from the house 16 hours a day. HHHe has earned a much-deserved rest, that is for sure.

“I thank God for keeping him safe over these past 40 years and I'm excited to see what adventures life holds for us now. Most importantly God and Family are high on our list.”

Milton is a 1977 Fairview graduate and was a longwall face supervisor at ERP Fuel Federal Mining Complex. Debbie is a Fairmont State grad.  North Marion grads Chase Hurley and Shane Hurley are their sons.

Debbie and Kim DeMary Clowers, Class of 1979, who lives in Red Bank, Tennessee with husband Earl Lee Clowers, have been best friends since they were 4 years old.

Milton was a long-time friend with the late Charles Devaughn “Butch” Sabala, Class of 1973, who worked at Patriot Coal and lived in Monongah, where he grew up.

Kim is a daughter of Joe DeMary and Laurelle “Lou” Costello Hustead. Her siblings are Joe Jo-Jo DeMary, Julie DeMary & Joanne DeMary.

Milton’s mom is Gatha Hurley.

Now Milt and Deb will have more to enjoy the South Carolina beaches. Milt and Deb are no strangers there.

And Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins games. They are no strangers there either.

John Yokay III, a Barrackville High and WVU grad from Monongah whose father is John Yokay, Class of 1953, has retired as a teacher in Sacramento City Unified School District in California.

John’s daughter, Petrina, after her graduation from New York City College of Podiatric Medicine, will begin a three-year surgery residency program at New York City’s Long Island Jewish Hospital. Petrina was an outstanding gymnast on the parallel bars at Auburn University in Alabama.

John’s father played for the 1952 state champ Monongah High football team. Dad once worked at St. John’s School of Boys in Deep River, Connecticut and lives in Mount Airy, Maryland. 

Papa John Yokay’s sisters are Leatrice Yokay Greaser, Class of 1950, the widow of Bob Greaser who lives in Fairmont, and Pat Yokay Maddox, Class of 1948, who lives in Bentons Ferry.

John III will have more time for his golf. He’s pretty good at the game.

He also referees high school football in California.

Veasey retires from Fairmont Times

John Veasey, my colleague and friend for 55 years, will retire after 58 years at the Fairmont Times.

For years I fed John information about WVU, Monongah High alumni and people I came across during my travels.

John Veasey

In the 1960s, when I was No. 2 in the Dayton Ohio Daily News sports department and John had only been at the Fairmont Times for maybe a half-dozen years but was Sports Editor, I offered him a job working for me. He declined because he wanted to remain in Marion County.

As John told Editor Misty Poe in his retirement interview: "I had a lot of opportunities (my offer being one) but I never wanted them. I just loved it here.”

Marion County was the winner in that decision. John is a class act. I wish him well.

By the way, when I graduated from WVU School of Journalism, managing editor/sports editor Bill Evans, a legend in West Virginia journalism, offered me $5 a week more than the Williamson Daily News to come to the Fairmont Times.

I declined and went to Williamson for $55 a week for one reason: I wanted to make my mark in life and in journalism on my own, not sheltered by my family and people who have known me since I was a kid. I guess the adventurous spirit that led me, in retirement, to 55 countries, 44 states, 13 cruises and 20 winters in Florida already was stirring in my blood.

I never regretted it. And I’m sure that John Veasey never regrets that he turned down a 50% pay raise and stayed in Fairmont.

We each choose our own paths in life, and which road to take. As Yogi Berra once famously said when giving directions to a home he had purchased: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” In Yogi’s case, both parts of the fork led to his house, because the road was a semi-circle, which many who quote Yogi on that didn’t know.

Veasey will continue to write his notebook for the Sunday edition of the Times, so I guess I’ll still feed him tips and articles, many of them copies of what I write for this Monongah High Alumni blog.

John and wife Rita have a son, Chance and his wife Keiko and their two children, Kaiya and Leo of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and two stepsons, Todd and his wife Victoria and four children Jack, Lilly, Grant and Wesley of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Ryan and his wife Alison and their two children R.T. and Asher of Sissonville.

To read the excellent article on John by Editor Misty Poe, the daughter of former WVU Athletics Sports Information Director Shelley Poe, click on http://www.timeswv.com/news/john-veasey-retiring-after-years-at-newspaper/article_3aa72564-8879-11e6-9995-9f6609349133.html

Diana Pisner Walker ends teaching career

Author Diana Pishner Walker is ending one of her other talents, teaching.

She wrote:

“I am resigning from the Marion County Board of Education as of October 2nd. Funny how life takes you down so many different paths and, when you get on the right one, you know it in your heart. I hate the fact that I will be leaving my East Dale family and those little faces of students that I've grown so fond of.

Diane Pishner Walker

“I have been a MCBOE employee for 25 years, but with 11 of those years being a substitute, I don't have enough years to retire. However, I will be visiting many schools and sharing stories and signing books ❤ Follow your heart.”

When I asked Diane for more details about her years in Marion County’s schools, she told me that she began where I began my education, at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Monongah, where the nuns whacked me with the one- and two-hole paddles and gave me a foundation that helped me through a 43-year newspaper career.

I will always be grateful to those nuns, in particular Sister Agnes, who – when she wasn’t speeding past our home on Church Street in her brother’s Jeep – whetted my appetite for writing.

Diane wrote:

“I was a kindergarten aide at Saints Peter and Paul in Monongah and taught Religion to K, 1st and 2nd there. When Saints Peter and Paul closed, I was hired as an aide in Marion County where I subbed for 11 years. My first job was at North Marion and then East Dale where I have been for 11 years.”

Diana was born and reared in Clarksburg. She is a 1977 graduate of Clarksburg Notre Dame High School and Fairmont State.

Diana and her husband’s children are Curt, Chris and Courtney. Her siblings are Anna Pishner Harsh and Stephano Pishner.

Her books include “I Don’t Want to Sit in the Front Row Any More,” was a memoir based on the loss of her parents, Anna and Louis Pishner; and “Spaghetti and Meatballs! My family is Italian!” The latter received honorable mention in the Hollywood Book Festival.

Another Diane book, “Hopping to America: A Rabbit’s Tale of Immigration,” was turned into a play by the Vintage Theatre Company in Clarksburg.

Three Monongah and North Marion high schools’ graduates also are authors: Linda Tomlinson Stevenski, Class of 1955; Annette Rose (Bonasso), North Marion Class of 1980; and Lisa Myers McCombs, Class of 1947.

My sister, Jackie Olesky Straight, Class of 1955, the widow of David Straight who lives in Rivesville, has her story about Monongah’s Flying Nun (on a Jeep), Sister Agnes:

"When Dave & I went to Monongah to visit Mom & Dad, we usually met Sister Agnes on the White Rock Road (U.S. 19) driving the Jeep.  Once Winter started, she had chains put on the Jeep.  She never took them off until Spring. 

“So on a pretty day we would see her bouncing along & the clanking of the chains as they hit the road!  We always got a big laugh that she didn't seem to mind the noise & the rough ride. 

“Jackie”

 

Sister Agnes was an original in so many ways. God bless her. And hopefully she'll bless me and forgive all my transgressions that made impressions on the punishment paddles and on my behind.

 

‘Retired’ Steve Mikulski teaching again

After 3-day 'vacation'

Steve Mikulski, Class of 1964, who grew up in Carolina, stayed “retired” for 3 days.

He’s teaching again.

Reports Steve:

“I am doing long-term subbing for Advanced AP Computer Programming 2 and 3 and Digital Technology Solutions. Mostly 11th and 12th graders. The young men and women in the classes are really smart and fun to be around. My drive each day is 115 miles round trip to Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, MD. I only have four classes so I get back to Hanover, Pennsylvania around 2:30. This assignment ends in mid-October. Why do it? I really missed the kids and am not ready to let go.”

Steve retired from teaching engineering design in Montgomery County public schools in Maryland. Then they moved from Germantown, Maryland to Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Now Steve’s commuting back into Maryland to teach . . . again.

Wife Holly White Mikulski may have to put a tracking device on Steve.

West Virginians 32^nd in average retirement savings

West Virginians rank 32^nd nationally in average retirement savings, at $211,085.89.

Surprisingly, Delaware is No. 1, at $286,277.12.

Wyoming is last, at $153,182.46.

Even more surprising, to me, is that the difference between first and last is only $133,094.66, with the wealthiest not even double the savings of the poorest. 

By the time you factor in the cost of living in the various states compared to the average retirement savings, the top and the bottom really aren’t that far apart in living standards at retirement time.

For example, if your home costs you twice as much in one state as in the another state with higher savings, the disparity evaporates rapidly.

And most of the pensions are spent in Florida anyway by the snowbirds.