Monongah High Lions

  Want Monongah Alumni cups or tumblers? Order them NOW! Too late when you come to the 100 th MHS Alumni Banquet If you want coffee cups that have Monongah Alumni and a Lion on one side and 100 th  Banquet 1923-2023 on the other side, then you’ll have to let Donna Davis know NOW because she has to know how many to order. Or metal tumblers with the same message? If you wait till the 100 th Monongah High Alumni Banquet over Memorial Day weekend it’ll be too late because Donna doesn’t want to order more she knows NOW she’ll be paid for. They are available for $10 for the coffee cup, $25 for the 16-ounce metal tumblers. You have to come to Marion County to get them. NO cups or tumblers will be shipped. Shipping cost would mean a loss on the sale. You can buy them now, even if you live out of state. But you’ll have to make arrangements to come to Monongah or the 2023 Monongah Alumni Banquet to pick them up. Phone Donna Davis, Class of 1961, at (304) 534-5636 if you’re...

  I am trying to compile a list of Lions who definitely will be coming to the 100th Monongah High Alumni Banquet on Saturday, MaY 27.  If your name is NOT on the list, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com or post on John Olesky Facebook page. List your graduation year. And full name of your guest, if any, and graduation year IF he or she is a Monongah High graduate. It's the 100th Banquet of the longest-running high school reunion in West Virginia history so we want as many people as possible to show up. I'll be there.  Look me up: John Olesky, Class of 1950. I have a frame with 2,500 revolving photographs, including more than a thousand with faces of Lions in the photos. Stop by and see if you're in some of them. Let's make this the greatest MHS reunion since Greta Martin Mike's first reunion 1922! Be there or be square.  I will be taking and posting photos of everyone there that I can get to come to my table, too, for a June article on this blog. I have 43 names...

  Big Jim Lipinski’s son passes away Jim Lipinski, Jr., son of legendary Monongah High and Fairmont State 3-sports athlete Big Jim Lipinski, passed away in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on Wednesday, March 14. Big Jim, Class of 1944, passed away in 2011 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where he taught phys ed in elementary schools, including my son, John Larry Olesky. Big Jim’s parents were Joseph and Lena Tur Lipinski. He grew up not far from the Monongah Union Hall. I would go the Lipinski home to buy milk. Their 2 dogs were greet me viciously still Lena came out and said “Friend.” Then they just watched me quietly and suspiciously. Big Jim was a football, basketball and baseball   hero at Monongah High and Fairmont State, where he was in the college’s Hall of Fame in football. He had a brief pro football career. Jim’s wife Loreene was a beloved cosmetology teacher at Cuyahoga Falls High. My daughter, LaQuita, was one of her students. Girls thronged to the funeral home when she pa...

  Deloris Jean ‘Honey’ Anderson Hardesty passes away Deloris Jean “Honey” Anderson Hardesty, Class of 1963, passed away Sunday, February 26 at her Worthington home. She is survived by her husband, James Gary “Huley” Hardesty, also Class of 1963. Her parents were Jocko Anderson, Sr. and Edith Anderson. Deloris was senior class treasurer and played clarinet in the Monongah High marching band before graduated from Fairmont State and becoming a Mon Power accountant for 40 years. Deloris’ obituary: Deloris Jean “Honey” Hardesty, 77, of Worthington, passed away on Sunday, February 26,2023 at her residence.  She was born December 10, 1945 at Fairmont, a daughter of the late Harold Jocko and Edith Irene Shuttlesworth Anderson. Deloris graduated from Monongah High School where she played the clarinet in the marching band and was also a graduate of Fairmont State College. She was employed by Mon Power as an accountant where she retired after 40 years of service. She enjoye...

It’s alive!!!   Monongah High Alumni Banquet continues in 2024 The annual Monongah High Alumni Banquet WILL continue after the 100 th on May 27 th in the Knights of Columbus on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont! Brenda Mills, Class of 1970, posted: “ We are going to continue the alumni going forward. I was asked if I would help with it because we don't want it to end.”   Brenda added:   “I loved so much about MHS. I loved the friends I made. Most of the teachers. A lot of the teachers, a lot of the activities. And the ball games.”   Roseann Orwig, Class of 1969, volunteered to help Brenda keep the fantastic Monongah High Alumni Banquet alive beyond 2023, adding “We plan to be in touch with Donna Davis (Monongah High Alumni Association treasurer who has handled the reservations and checks for decades) about carrying on the torch. Hopefully it will work out.”   Roseann attended Fairmont State and is a secretary at Fairmont General Hospital’...

  Even though a reservation form isn't required I am providing one for those who prefer to mail in one with your check. Or you can phone Donna Davis and she'll tell you how to pay and attend. INFORMATION Donna Davis (304) 534-5636 No form required. Call Donna and let her know you're coming and she'll tell you what to do.  If you register, email John Olesky at jo4wvu@neo.rr.com with your full name, including maiden and married name, graduation year, and who, if anyone, will be accompanying you to the Banquet. I will use the names of everyone that I KNOW will be at the Banquet in articles before the May 17 Banquet. Provide recent adult photo of you and your guest and I'll use that, too.  Thank you.

  Military hero Leon Charles Trader Passes away   Leon Charles Trader, who started with the Class of 1966 at Monongah High but left to join the Army. He was wounded in Vietnam, earning him the Purple Heart.   Everson resident Joseph Bombard , Class of 1966 along with Joe’s wife, Marva Holt Bombard, told me:   “ John Olesky , I knew Mr. Trader very well. He would have graduated class of 1966 but he quit school and joined the Army and was sent to Viet Nam where he was injured and received the Purple Heart.   “We grew up together in Everson. We hunted, fished and played kids sports together. Both our fathers were coal miners in those days. We played our sports games in a pasture field. We where really close.”   Fishing buddies is correct. Leon’s obituary photo show him holding a LARGE fish!   Monongah High Alumni Association president Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965 and living in Florida with husband Jim Gandy, Class of 196...