Sharon with sons Mark, Ben, Chris and Jonathan

Hugh at first job in Galion, Ohio newspaper

Sharon Downing, John Olesky, Paula Tucker reunite in Florida

Another BJ reunion

Sharon Downing, widow of former BJ printer Hugh Downing, had a reunion in The Villages, Florida with former Ol’ Blue Walls staffers John Olesky and Paula Tucker.

Hugh passed away in 2016. Sharon lives permanently in her home in The Villages. Paula, a 1970s State Desk reporter, has a home in The Villages. Paula and John co-own a residence in Tallmadge.

Sharon will be getting visits in March from some of her children. Sharon and Hugh have four sons:

Hugh and Sharon’s children are Mark Downing, who lives in Erie, Pennsylvania; Chris, who lives in Hudson; and Ben and Jonathan, who live in Toledo and Vienna, Virginia.

Sharon and Hugh both attended Galion High School, but didn’t get together  until Sharon’s mom retired and moved to Florida.

Four guys from the Galion factory, who called Sharon’s mother “Mom,” showed up at the Florida home.

 

That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and marriage. They were wed in 1960.

 

Hugh and Sharon moved to The Villages in 2000. The Downings lived in the city of Medina during Hugh’s BJ days.

Hugh worked at Ol’ Blue Walls for 37 years, retiring in 2000, four years after John retired from the 44 E. Exchange Street domain of John S. Knight.

John and his late wife, Monnie Turkette Olesky of Cinderella, West Virginia, got together with Hugh and Sharon on Siesta Key, adjacent to Sarasota, Florida, when Hugh and Sharon were staying in the late printer Bill Gorrell’s former Poor Bill’s rentals just across the street from the beach and the Gulf of Mexico.