McBane, Charlene get thank-yous from the grave

Retired BJ reporters Dick McBane and Charlene Nevada got a posthumous thank-you from Vera Grace Snyder Cogan-O’Neill, who passed away July 16 in Sarasota, her residence since 2002.

McBane wrote a 1977 BJ article about Vera’s many achievements in education and community work.

Charlene in 1975 wrote about Vera becoming Kenmore High’s first woman principal.

Both got space in Vera's obituary in the BJ.

Vera taught at Harris and Betty Jane elementaries and was principal at Howe,  Stewart and Rankin elementaries, Perkins Junior High, Kenmore High and Innes Junior High.

Vera’s family also made its mark in the Akron area. Her dad was on the Lakemore Town Council and the Springfield School Board. Her mother was president of the Lakemore Elementary School PTA.

McBane came to the BJ after stints at the Marietta, Ohio Times and Garrettsville Journal (during his Hiram College days). He retired from Ol’ Blue Walls in 1997.

Dick and wife Marylyn have been married more than a half-century. They moved to Georgia in 2004.

Dick’s book, “A Fine-Looking Lot of Ball-Tossers: The Remarkable Akrons of 1881,” was published in 2005. Dick is an expert on minor league baseball.

Charlene retired in 2005 after 35 years at Ol’ Blue Walls before working for Burton D. Morgan Foundation, a philanthrophy that provided grants to colleges. She is married to Art Krummel, who was the BJ’s chief artist.