THREE MONONGAH FIREFIGHTERS GET GOLDEN AWARDS
50-year awards for 3 Monongah
firefighters
Bill McCombs, Class of 1956, and Joe “Buck”
Martin received 50-year service awards from West Virginia State Fire Commission
for being fire department volunteers for the town of Monongah.
Chief Harless McCombs will soon be recognized for 50 years of service.
Bill joined the Monongah Fire
Department in 1971, Buck in 1972.
Bill also was Monongah Water Plant chief operator, retired but came
back to train his water plant replacement, who bailed out after a few months.
Bill’s
wife is Monongah Town Recorder Patty Steele McCombs, a Fairmont East graduate
deeply involved in promoting the annual Monongahfest Festival. They’ve been
married about half a century. She moved to Monongah in her 20s, around the time
she married Bill. Patty has been Town Recorder for a few decades. Bill has
served on Monongah’s Town Council, off and on, for more than 20 years. And put
in 23 years making sure Monongah’s water was safe to drink.
Bill and Patty owned for five years the Dairy
Kone built and operated by the late Amelia Shenasky Zentz and husband Bruce
Zentz.
In
2014 Bill got the Perkins Boynton Award given out to West Virginia water
operators. Only two are handed out each year.
Monongah fire chief Harless McCombs, Class of 1976, is Bill McCombs’
brother. Harless is married to Monongah Middle School
language arts teacher and children’s book author Lisa Myers McCombs, Class of 1977. Their brother, Kevin McCombs, is married to Vicky McCombs.
Bill McCombs won the Monongah mayoral race several
years ago when his name was drawn from a hat to break a tie with incumbent Don
Harris. But after the state ruled that he couldn’t be both mayor and town water
director, Bill resigned as mayor.
Bill’s wife, Patty, broke the tie that put Greg Vandetta
into the mayor’s chair. Vandetta Construction owner Greg is married to
Monongahfest president Debbie Manzo Vandetta, Class of 1973.
JohnBoy Palmer succeeded Greg as Monongah’s mayor.
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