Ann Gangl passes away

 

 

 As per a request, here is the Gangl home address if you want to sent Ott a condolence card:

3186 S Jackson Blvd, Uniontown, OH 44685 

Ann Gangl, with Ott Gangl the most adventuresome and zest for life perpetual motion BJ couple I’ve ever met, passed away at midnight Saturday/Sunday, August 29/30.

 

Retired BJ photographer Ott posted:

 

“Now I don't want to live forever anymore. Not without Ann, who died at midnight at 87 after we been on a 65-year adventure.

“Her heart stopped beating but she lives in me. At the moment this is so hard.

“She will be cremated and there are no calling hours. When this virus threat is over we will have a celebration of life. Meanwhile, I am OK with lots of food and stuff . . . and when it sinks in the tears will come.”

Ott once told me how he wound up with Ann:

“John, I came over on the same converted liberty boat from Germany as her cousin on April 20, 1952.

 

“So while visiting I was introduced to the family with three young and beautiful daughters. I dated the older one for a while and then went to the middle one, Ann, to whom I got enamored while sitting in their living room waiting for Mary to fiddle with her makeup.

 

“After Mary dumped me I didn't miss a beat to date Ann. We got engaged in 1954 and a year later we got married” at St. Bernard Church in Akron by Father Wolf, who did the entire ceremony in Germany.

 

“We could speak English,” Ott recalled, but Father Wolf “wanted to work on his German.”  

“It’s a blast being married to that girl.”

 

1955 was the same year that I married my Mona Lisa, Monia Elizabeth Turkette Olesky, my wife for 48 years when she passed in 2004.

 

Then former BJ State Desk reporter Paula Stone Tucker came along and rescued me for 16 years, so far.

 

Ott Gangl embraced his job as a Beacon Journal photographer with the same verve he brought to life.

 

When you’ve fled ethnic cleansing under Yugoslavia’s Marshal Tito as a child and spent six weeks living in a cattle car with your refugee family, you tend to look at photographing life in Akron and getting paid to do it as pure joy.

 

Gangl was 20 when he and his family came to America from their temporary home in Bavaria. An amateur photographer who spoke little English, he had to settle for a job in the Beacon Journal’s machine shop.

 

He almost quit, but his boss wanted to keep him. The supervisor arranged for him to transfer to the position of wire photo operator, a job that also gave Gangl the chance to go out on some photo assignments. Then, when a staff photographer left for the priesthood, Gangl got his job.

 

His lack of familiarity with the culture was a hurdle at first. With his characteristic guffaw, he recalled being sent early on to photograph the Cleveland Browns, who picked up on his lack of knowledge about American football and had fun at his expense by posing in the wrong positions -- kicker Lou Groza passing the ball, the quarterback tackling a player.

 

Over the years, he covered the big news and the everyday goings-on in Akron and beyond. He remembers going three days without sleep when he photographed the aftermath of the Xenia tornado in 1974, making trips to Dayton to process the pictures and get them onto the Associated Press wire.

 

He remembers enjoying a 3½-hour lunch at the Eiffel Tower while the reporter he had accompanied to Michelin’s headquarters was writing his story. He remembers stripping naked to photograph a nudist camp.

 

Gregarious and boyishly mischievous, he approached all those experiences as adventures.

 

“If I had to scrub floors or clean dead bodies, I’d find a way to be happy,” he once said. “You have to take care of your own soul.”

 

Rick Zaidan remembers “Ott was one of the first photographers I ever met. In the mid-70's I used to hang out in the ABJ newsroom waiting for my dad to get off work.

“Ott was boisterous and passionate about photography and living back then when newsrooms were much different than they are now. Great guy.”

Paula and I crosses paths with Ann and Ott several times at the German Society Oktoberfests in Brimfield Township. It wasn’t hard to find them: Just listen for the table where people were laughing most boisterously and enthusiastically.

 

Ott and Ann lived in Green and enthusiastically embraced skiing out West and traveling with their recreational vehicle.

Ann’s obituary:

 

Ann Gangl passed away peacefully at midnight August 29, 2020 with her husband at her side.

Born in Djakovo, Croatia on July 19, 1933, she grew up in Klagenfurt, Austria. She moved with her family to Akron, Ohio in 1950.

 

A multi-talented artist, she had a business of restoring photographs, hand coloring and other photographic services. As a certified ski instructor, she taught skiing for 25 years at Boston Mills Ski Resort.

 

She and her husband Ott took yearly ski vacations in the Rocky Mountains, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

 

Ann was preceded in death by her mother, Teresa Hack Raumberger; father Josef Raumberger; brother, Steven Raumberger; sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Jeffrey Leisinger, and sister, Rose Fritz Kungl.

 

She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Ott Gangl; son, Alex (Tina) Gangl; her grandchildren, Max and Sydney; sister-in-law, Pat Raumberger; brother, John (April) Raumberger; nieces and nephews, Eric (Tanja) Kungl, Lisa (Kevin) Spencer, Paul (Mary Eileen) Kungl, Carla (Todd Crawley) Kungl, Crista (Ken) Pryor, Nicole (Joe) Spoonster, Kat Wills, Philip (Maureen) Raumberger, Erin (Matt) Thorne, Jessica Leisinger, many great-nieces and nephews.

 

Cremation has taken place, and a private inurnment will take place at Holy Cross Cemetery, Akron. There will be no calling hours, and a celebration of life will be announced next year.

 

BJ Memory Wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

The people who made the BJ a great newspaper !!

 

 

 

 

 

John Costello passes away

 

 

 

 

 

John Costello, a Composing printer at the BJ for 41 years, passed away Sunday, August 23.

His widow is Maggie, his wife for 65 years! They have 4 children, 7 grandchildren  and 8 great-grandchildren!

He was among the 45 retired printers who won the 2012 healthcare lawsuit against the BJ. Judge David Dowd approved the settlement in Akron Federal District Court.

He had a double heart bypass in 1990.

John’s obituary:

John Andrew Costello, Sr., 85, passed away on Aug. 23, 2020.

 

John was born in Akron on Sept. 4, 1934 to the late Dominic and Gertrude Costello. He graduated from St. Vincent High School and attended The University of Akron for one semester to play football.

 

He retired from The Akron Beacon Journal after 41 years.

 

He was a lifelong member of Blessed Trinity Parish. He was an avid sports fan and one of Notre Dame’s biggest fans along with the New York Yankees.

 

John is survived by his loving wife, Maggie, of 65 years; children, Kathy (Denny) Spardy, John Costello, Jr., Christine (Frank) Ciraco, and Carl (Geri) Costello; grandchildren, Stephanie (Jim) Linaburg, Jessica Spardy, Kayla (Max) Ciraco, Amanda Ciraco, Jamie (Troy) Pascley, Giavonna Costello, and Cody (Chloe) Costello; greatgrandchildren, Bryanna, Tyson, Troy, Jr., Nicholas, Adrian, Lauren, Asher, and Kylan; many loving nieces and nephews.

 

The family wishes to thank all of his exceptional neighbors and compassionate nurses at DaVita Summit.

 

Mass of Christian Burial will be Saturday, 11:00 a.m. at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, 300 E. Tallmadge Ave., Akron, Ohio 44310, with Rev. Father Joseph Warner, Celebrant. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Blessed Trinity Parish.

 

Due to COVID-19, we respectfully request that those attending the Mass of Christian Burial will practice social distancing and wear facemasks. If you are unable to attend or do not wish to attend, we understand. Love and prayers will be appreciated. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

 

You are invited to hbm-fh.com   to view John’s tribute wall, offer condolences and share memories.

Randy Smith passes away

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1980s tenacious BJ reporter Randolph Smith passed away at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia. Randy and wife Virginia “Ginny” Smith, also a former BJ reporter who was with the Philadelphia Inquirer for 30 years before her 2015 retirement, lived in East Falls, near Philadelphia. He was 66.

BJ columnist Bob Dyer said it best:

“He was a tenacious reporter. Worked his butt off and kept pressing until he got answers.”

Charlene Nevada explained it even better:

“Wow. He was one hard-ass reporter. I had a friend, a social worker, who told me he was sitting on her front step one day when she refused to answer his calls about some story he was working on. He was a great reporter.”

Susan Gippin posted:

“Randy wrote several enterprise stories including one on the jewelry of hospitalized patients coming up missing in Cuyahoga Falls. No week was complete for energetic Randy without dancing at the Holiday Inn in Northern Summit County.”

Roger Mezger offered a more detailed account of Randy’s time at the BJ:

“Randy Smith’s first BJ byline appeared In August 1983 and he appears to have left the paper in March 1989. Looks like he did a lot of GA at first, while also covering the northern burbs and Cleveland/Cuyahoga County during that stretch where the BJ expanded its coverage area after the Press closed. He also seems to have done a lot of courts coverage and eventually was covering Canton and Stark County. By about June 1986 he had been named medical writer and that was his main role fir the rest of his time here. However, he also did a couple of series on terrorism while he was medical writer.

Randy’s obituary noted:

“Randy Smith had a joyful, infectious gusto for life. He and a friend biked once a week in Chester County for 30 years, even when the roads were a bit icy.”

 

He was a journalist turned Philadelphia marketing executive and athlete who married Ginny Wiegand. When Ginny returned home to Philadelphia Randy went with her.

 

Former Metro Editor Tim Smith posted that “Randy was one of the reporters we hired when the Philadelphia Bulletin folded. Great guy.”

 

Jane Snow posted:

“Randy Smith! This is a shock. He was medical writer under Ann Sheldon, I think. He and I wrote a couple of stories together. He was a very good reporter.”

Bob Downing posted:

“Randy was an intense reporter who would spend hours and hours sculpting stories late at night in an empty newsroom. His mission was to make it almost impossible for an editor to cut one of his stories. It was a devilish little game he played.”

Jim Carney posted:

“He made me some remarkable blues mix tapes when he and Ginny were in Akron. He sat near me for a while and was a very hard worker who put in long hours on projects he was working on.”

Paul Grna passes away 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former BJ Librarian Paul Grna, Jr., who retired from the mailroom packaging department, passed away.

 

Paul was the widower of Judy Hazlinger Grna. They were married for 49 years and spent nearly all that time on Jonathon Avenue in Akron. Paul was the guy with the black beard. Judy was the redheaded love of his life.

 

After the BJ Paul became night manager/auditor for Econo Lodge Akron East.

 

He is a Garfield High graduate who went on to the University of Akron.

 

Paul Grna, Sr., Paul’s father, was in the BJ mailroom for 35 years. The Paul we knew in the BJ Library was a third-generation family member to work at 44 E. Exchange Street. His grandfather, Joe Grna, Sr., came to the BJ after coming from Yugoslavia in the early 1900s to be a driver for the Akron Times, which the Knight family later absorbed into its Beacon operation. Joe drove a Model-T Touring car and an open-cab Ford truck that he owned.

 

By the time the BJ began providing trucks for its men, Grandpa Joe had two other men working for him to get the papers to the suburban counties. He retired in 1972 after 42 years of driving Akron newspapers to their appointed dropoffs.

 

Paul’s stepmother, Joan E. Grna, passed away in 2008 at the age of 78. The Akron native retired from Firestone after 34 years there. She was a golfer who regularly attended St. Mary Catholic Church where she worked in the church office once a week. Joan’s brothers were Ralph and Richard Young.

 

Judy was predeceased by her parents, Pauline and Frank Hazlinger.

Dave Cooper passes away

 

 

Former BJ editorial page editor David Cooper passed away Monday, August 15 in La Jolla, California.

He came to Ol’ Blue Walls in 1997 and retired in 1999 when it was still at 44 E. Exchange Street.

The New York City native and University of North Carolina graduate began his newspaper career at the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan with a summer internship. Dave’s grandfather, Edmund W. Booth, once was the editor and was party of the family that founded Booth Newspapers.

Paul Poorman brought Dave to the BJ from the Detroit Free Press.

Dave’s widow is Joanne Hutchinson Cooper. Other survivors include their children, David Cooper, Jr. of Piedmont, California; Charles Cooper of Canton; Melanie St. Raymond Jennings of Wilton, Connecticut; and stepchildren Julia Hutchinson of San Martin, California, and Jim Perry of La Jolla and Aspen, Colorado.

 

Article about Dave is on the Community front page in today’s BJ.

O.C. Murphy passes away

Circulation’s O.C. Murphy passes away

Ocie “O.C.” Murphy, in BJ Circulation for more than 20 years, mostly as a truck driver, passed away Sunday, August 2.

He also worked at Akron City Hospital.

He was awarded the Purple Heart during his two tours in Vietnam with the Army.

O.C. was an activist and founding member of the Black Board of Trade that demanded equal lending for blacks and females.

He founded KAFCO Mortgage Corporation that provided small business and home loans for a decade in Akron.

He also opened Goldies Family Fun Center for skating and playing.

O.C.’s obituary:

" Murphy Ocie "O.C.", 77, passed away on August 2, 2020. O.C. was a graduate of South High School. He enlisted in the United States Army where he served two tours in Vietnam in which he was awarded The Purple Heart. O.C. was an employee of Akron City Hospital and retired from the Akron Beacon Journal after over two decades. O.C., along with his wife, were two of the three founding members of the Black Board of Trade where they marched against the banks in Akron, OH for equal lending toward black and female Business Owners. He was instrumental in the proposal of receiving grants and loans for minority businesses. He then decided to open KAFCO Mortgage Corporation. KAFCO provided home loans and small business loans for over ten years to the community. He later opened up Goldies Family Fun Center as a family business to offer children an opportunity to have a safe place to play and skate. He was preceded in death by his birth parents, Leola Jackson and Chappie Murphy Sr.; parents, Lillians and Arthur Johnson Sr.; loving and devoted wife, Goldie Marie Johnson-Murphy; son, Harold Logan; brothers, Johnny Simpkins, Chappie Murphy Jr., Arthur "B.B". Johnson Jr.; sisters, Connie Riley and Julia Pearl Fields. He leaves to forever cherish his memory, daughter, Aleka Murphy (Stockton, CA); sons, Gordon (Jada) Spears (St. Peter's, MO), Farren Murphy and Kahli Murphy both of Akron OH; sisters, Korla Merit, Shawn Jackson, both of Akron, OH; brothers, Thomas Simpkins, Harold Mingo, Larry Murphy and Paul Murphy, all of Akron, OH, Billy Johnson of Columbus, OH, Tony Johnson of Virginia. O.C. loved his grandchildren dearly, granddaughters, Akela Murphy, Kendall Spears and Goldie Rose Murphy; grandsons, Elohim El, Ian Hicks, Jaxson Spears, Brysen Spears, Kahli Akeem Murphy Jr., Kaiden Murphy, Korwyn Garkovich and Kyron Murphy and two great grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends. Private services have been held with interment at Rose Hill Burial Park.