Traveling twosome only ones at BJ retirees lunch

BJ Advertising Art retiree Mike Williams (BJ 1968-2012), fresh from trips to Ecuador and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and newsroom retiree John Olesky, fresh from a trip to New Zealand and Australia, were the only people who showed up today at the monthly BJ retirees lunch at Papa Joe’s Restaurant on Akron/Peninsula Road at Portage Trail Extension.

They discussed places that both have been, such as the Seneca Rocks and Blackwater Falls area of West Virginia, many of the countries of Europe and some in South America.

And people whose paths they have crossed, such as former University of Akron football coach and extraordinary fundraiser Jerry Faust. Mike ran across Jerry on a raft or small boat near Beckley, West Virginia. John, who’s known Jerry since Jerry’s father was athletic director at Dayton Chaminade High School, ran across Jerry a few years back at a doctor’s office while they were there for their female partners’ office visit.

Mike Williams (left), John Olesky
Elephant riding on front of shirt; tiger petting on back

Mike and Jane, who found the altitude in Ecuador difficult to handle, have two sons, independent trucker Nathan Williams (they keep track of where he is via SmartPhone’s locator) and chemical engineer Trevor Williams. Mike retired in December 2012 after 44 years, including coming under John Grimm’s wing in 1976.

Mike’s sister, BJ information technology retiree Linda Williams Torson, is married to Akron-Summit County Metroparks retiree Tim Torson. 

Another sister, former clinical dietician Cindy Williams Chima, worked in the BJ classified phone room in the 1970s and writes fiction novels for young adults.

Olesky wore his shirt with a scene from elephant riding alongside Paula in Thailand in 2012 on the front and petting an uncaged tiger in Chiangmai in northern Thailand on the back. The waitress took front and back photos for the lonesome twosome at the lunch.

The BJ retirees lunch, or what’s left of it, is 1 p.m. second Wednesday of every month at Papa Joe’s Restaurant in the Merriman Valley.