The secret is out about why Neil Sheinin and Cheryl Scott Sheinin hit it off so well.

They are compatible bowling stars.

Looking through some of the BJ Sidebars company newsletters that Mike Williams provided copies of for me, in 1996, the year that I retired from the BJ, there they were.

Former BJ copy boy who wound up in the BJ mailroom Neil had high score handicap for a 3-game series with 685. Strike!

Cheryl, Finance retiree after 45 years in that department, had high series raw score with a 463. Strlke!

Strike up the band!

Cheryl was no slouch in the BJ Ladies Golf League either.

Neil bowled Cheryl over the first time she saw him. I’ll let Cheryl tell the story:

“We met at the Beacon. I worked the Public Service counter when it was on the 2nd floor. This handsome guy got off the elevator from the 3rd floor and came up to me to buy stamps. I looked at him, leaned over to open the drawer to get the stamps and fell off the stool. Great first impression.

“I found he was a copy runner in editorial and the chase was on. lol.

“He left the BJ to work in Pennsylvania for Brunswick Bowling for a couple of years. When he returned to Akron he worked at Fairlawn Lanes and that is where our BJ ladies bowling team bowled.

“We caught up again there and the dating began. We got married in 1979.

“He was a great bowler and was in a couple of leagues. I just bowled for the BJ ladies team. We last bowled in a league in mid-1990s. We both always bowled in the Beacon Journal company-wide challenge each year.

“We have no children or grandchildren. We have had 4 dogs in our years and Mia is our current girl!”

No wonder they did so well in BJ bowling. It comes as natural as breathing if you’re a Sheinin!

They were married 40 years as of last September. That’s a lot of bowling pins sprawling into the air!

Give Neil a hip-hip-hooray for figuring out how to save money. He married Cheryl on her birthday. One present for birthday and wedding anniversary combined. Leaves more money to spare (get it?) for their other activities.

No wonder Cheryl is such a good Scout about it. She was in the Girl Scouts as a child.

They do more than park themselves together in bowling alleys. Neil and Cheryl have spent some serious fun time in national parks like Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota (with the 4 Presidents … not a barbershop quartet), Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota, Devils Tower in Wyoming and Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.

Cheryl is a Garfield High graduate. Neil is a baseball aficionado. He threw out the first pitch at a 2012 Akron Aeros baseball game (they are the RubberDucks now, but still play minor league ball in Canal Park). In two decades he made his way to 350 baseball stadia, mostly in minor league parks.

Here’s a striking trivia about Cheryl: She has had her dental work done forever only by Barstans: Father, dad’s son and then dad’s other son.

Cheryl is a remarkably constant friend to have, too. When former BJ security guard Anna Nitz passed away, Cheryl was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 2012 for the spreading of Anna’s ashes into the Atlantic Ocean area Anna loved so much.

Anna’s husband, Bill Nitz, was there. Bill’s cousin Albert Nitz was Bill’s chaffeur for the seaside ceremony. Bill passed away in 2019.

Anna began with the Pinkertons for 42 years, starting in 1968, and migrated to spending much of her life greeting visitors to 44 E. Exchange Street.

Barb Heller of accounting had high score handicap 3-game series of 629.

Ross Rizzo of the Mailroom had high series raw score of 602.

Vicki Mitchell of retail advertising had high game among the women, a 201!

Craig Fox, Jr. had high game among the men with a 240.

Also in the photo is Leslie Ansley, assistant Features editor, with her son, Trey.

And Composing’s Bill Ferguson, Circulation retiree (already!) Art Beck, maintenance retiree George Truza and Louise Eicher, formerly of Sanese Services, back to visit her old friends.

The late Bill Ferguson was good at knocking over bowling pins but not so good at keeping track of his teeth. He lost them in the Gulf of Mexico!

Fergie, as everyone called the nice, quiet guy in Composing, was vacationing on Siesta Key where I’ve put my toes in the sand for more nearly 30 years just adjacent to Sarasota, Florida.

Former BJ printer Bill Gorrell bought a string of apartments just across the street from the Siesta Key beach and BJ printers and newsroom folks popped in there from time to time to enjoy a sunny break from Ohio’s nasty weather.

Fergie was there with another BJ printer, Lloyd Bigelow. When Fergie came out of the shallow, clear Gulf of Mexico water, his lower dental plate stayed behind. Maybe a wave slapped them out. Who knows?

Barb Heller was at the 2016 BJ reunion party at Papa Joe’s Restaurant where Akron-Peninsula Road meets Portage Trail Extension in the Merriman Valley. So were Neil and Cheryl Sheinin.

Ross Rizzo and Angelo Rizzo both worked at the BJ.

I know that it’s an easy thing for memory to paint the days of yore as The Good Ol’ Days.

Well, they were, for me, at the BJ Features Department where I spent most of my 26 years at Ol’ Blue Walls till my 1996 retirement.

I know, 24 years ago, come this July 1. Time makes the tarnish disappear and the gold shine through.

But think of the Features staff! A Hall of Fame collection!

Bob Dyer, named a zillion times as Ohio Columnist of the Year!

Jane Snow, the best food writer in BJ history.

Craig Wilson, an Action Line legend who trained a legion of later BJ reporting greats.

Jewell Cardwell, another notable columnist who shared a Cinderella, West Virginia family history with me. Her uncles and aunts and my late wife, Monnie Elizabeth Turkette Olesky, who passed away in 2004 and awaits me in Northlawn Memorial Gardens in Cuyahoga Falls, once lived there. It’s a Williamson suburb in Mingo County on the Tug River that separates West Virginia from Kentucky.

Mark Dawidziak, not in this photo, was my TV critic when I was Television Editor. Mark is one of the premier pop culture critics in BJ history. He was equally at ease with Hal Holbrook, Peter Falk (the disheveled detective in the “Columbo” series), Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe as with his fellow Features Department co-workers.

Dawidziak, who switched to that newspaper up north (the PD), was sandwiched between David Bianculli, my first TV critic as we organized the birth of the Channels television guide, who went to New York City to make his mark and whose son is a TV producer these days, and Rich Heldenfels. A really fantastic trifecta, in my opinion.

Joan Rice. When I first walked into the BJ newsroom I spotted Joan and Janice Froelich as the two “hottest” babes in the building. And then working with Joan, who has since passed away, I found out she also was one of the warmest, smartest, most fashionably dressed persons in the building. Who provided an extremely generous and comfortable shoulder for me to cry on when things got tough at the BJ.

Dennis Gordon, photographer, also in those days would ride his bicycle to Columbus and back! Can you imagine the condition you have to be in to do that! He stayed off the Interstate, of course, but still, even on the back roads that would take a lot of pumping and pedaling. I work up a sweat just thinking about it.

Don Rosenberg was the superb classical music critic who later went to the PD, which didn’t have the guts to back his accurate appraisals of the Cleveland Orchestra and sided with power rather than prose.

Bill O’Connor did some magnificent feature pieces. The one-time Montana monastery candidate in retirement also threw some pretty spiffy parties at his cool Summit County residence.

Michelle LeComte, the Features chief honcho at one stretch; Craig and Jane have passed away.

But memories of them and other Features Department co-workers will never fade away.

Those were the days, my friend. I thought they would never end. But they did . . . except for the memories.

It had the feeling of singing and dancing the life we chose.

“Those Were The Days” was born as a Russian romance song, “Dorogoi Dlinnoyu” (“The Long Road) from Boris Fomin and poet Konstantin Podrevsky.

Greenwich Village folk musician Gene Raskin put the English words to it.

Tamara Tsereteli and Russian Alexander Vertinsky did the song in the 1920s.

Paul McCarthy produced Mary Hopkins’ “Those Were the Days”  single that took Great Britain by storm in 1968.

 “Those Were the Days” was not always associated with happy or nostalgic moments.

Equatorial New Guinea president Francisco Macias Nguema had it played on his National Stadium public address system while he had 150 people accused of plotting a coup against him executed . . . to gunshots mixed with the Mary Hopkins recording.

 

Clarence Azar passes away

Clarence Azar, in the BJ advertising department for 37 years when he retired, passed away Monday, February 10.

Clarence Azar

Clarence’s brother, Fred, who passed away in 2007, was a professional painting contractor and operated the Falls Driving Range on Wyoga Lake Road. Fred also was an avid fisherman.

Their parents had famous Biblical names: Joseph and Mary, as in the parents of Jesus.

Clarence’s obituary:

Clarence L. Azar passed away on February 10, 2020 after a long illness. Born October 2, 1932 in Akron, Ohio, he was a lifelong resident, graduating from Central High School in 1950.

He was a veteran, serving in the United States Army (1951-1953) in Germany.

He retired from the Akron Beacon Journal after 37 years in the advertising department.

Clarence was an active member of his community. Wherever he went, people knew him. He was a member of St. Joseph Melkite Church and served on the boards of the American Heart Association and Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Center.

As a season ticket holder, Clarence loved attending Cleveland Indians baseball games and University of Akron basketball games, often inviting family and friends to join him. And he loved vacationing in Pompano Beach, Florida and Las Vegas.

The family would like to express gratitude to the staff of Brookdale Montrose, Heatherwood Hall, where he spent his last years, and to the Brookdale Hospice staff, for their loving care. He often commented, "The service here is excellent. I have great people taking care of me."

Preceded in death by his parents, Mary and Joseph; brothers, Ernest Sr., Phillip, and Fred E. Sr.; sisters, Margaret Loughry, Agnes Mumper, Julia (Judy) Thomas, Bernice Azar, and Freyda Androsky; he is survived by dear friend, Patricia Mayer; sister, Dorothy Valenza (Wheeling, IL); and numerous nieces, nephews, great and great-great nieces and nephews who loved him. Family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. on Monday, February 17th, followed by a funeral service at 11:00 a.m. at Ciriello & Carr Funeral Home, 39 S. Miller Rd. in Fairlawn. Interment at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Family suggests memorial donations be made to the American Heart Association, or the charity of one's choice.

 

 

 

Fred E. Azar, Sr.

Fred E. Azar, Sr., of Cuyahoga Falls, passed away June 20, 2007.

A lifelong area resident, Mr. Azar served in the Korean Conflict. For many years he

 

Clarence’s brother, Fred, who passed away in 2007, was a professional painting contractor and operated the Falls Driving Range on Wyoga Lake Road. Fred also was an avid fisherman.

but his great love was spending time with his grandchildren.

Preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Mary and brothers, Ernest Sr. and Phillip; sisters, Bernice Azar, Margaret Loughry, Agnes Mumper, Freda Androsky and Julia Thomas; he is survived by daughter, Mary Rose Azar; sons, Joseph (Connie), Fred Jr. (Darlene), Mike and Alan; sister, Dorothy Valenza; brother, Clarence; mother of his children, Mary Azar; grandchildren, Autumn, Sierra, Gabrielle, Lonnie, Mary, Rachel, Robert, Giovanni, Darian, Ronald Michael, Tamiki, Miya, Mykal; nieces and nephews.

Calling hours Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m.at the Dunn-Quigley, Ciriello & Carr Falls Chapel, 810 Portage Trail, with Prayer service at 4 p.m. Funeral Liturgy 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Joseph Mellkite Catholic Church, 600 W. Exchange, Akron, OH 44302, Rev. Basil G. Samra celebrant, followed by Mercy Meal at St. Joseph's Center. Family suggests memorials to the church and the American Heart Assoc., 1236 Weathervane Lane, Akron, OH 44313.

Fraud puts brakes on McClatchy bankruptcy filing?

The court is putting the brakes on dumping the McClatchy pensions onto the federal pension program because of suspected chicanery between McClatchy and Chatham Asset Management.

Chatham, its largest shareholder, plans to take over McClatchy.

In 2018 Chatham and McClatchy put their heads together and increased the McClatchy debt from $344 million to $670 million so that Chatham had to be repaid before McClatchy could meet its pension obligations.

Since McClatchy was insolvent before the extra debt, that’s fraud, the government says.

Check it out by going to

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pension-agency-questions-actions-of-mcclatchys-largest-lender-prior-to-bankruptcy-filing/ar-BB100RpP

McClatchy files for bankruptcy, dumping pensions on taxpayers

It looks like newspaper owners across America are going bankrupt.

The latest: McClatchy, which once bought Knight-Ridder Newspapers just before the financial freefall hit newspapers.

McClatchy is in a string of owners of the BJ, starting with Knight Newspapers, then Knight-Ridder Incorporated, then McClatchy, then Black Press and now GateHouse Media. I think I’ve got ‘em all but it’s tough to keep track.

Sacrament-based McClatchy owns 30 newspapers, including the Miami Herald, once part of John S. Knight’s group where JSK spent his winters on the bay before going to the Kentucky Derby in Louisville the first Saturday of May and then summering in Akron at his BJ corner office.

McClatchy also owns the Kansas City Star, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Charlotte (NC) Observer.

McClatchy will lose control of its company after more than 160 years. Hedge fund Chatham Assset Management, McClatchy’s largest shareholder, will take over.

The owners’ failure to get in on the ground floor when the internet was a baby led to this financial falling off the cliff. When the baby grew up, it took the bulk of newspapers' revenue, leaving paid obituaries as the main source left.

Just like Black Press with the BJ, McClatchy will dump its $1.4 billion pension plans onto the federal government’s Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. Taxpayers may become the main suppliers for newspaper pensions in America if the trend continues.

Lew Stamp’s wife passes away

Plaid Casson Stamp, wife of former BJ photographer Lew Stamp, passed away.

Plaid led an amazing life in both journalism and as a conservationist.

She grew up next door a 100-acre farm and a Nike missile site in the Pittsburgh area.

Lew took a BJ buyout in 2008 after spending 30 years at Ol’ Blue Walls.

Another newspaper photographer, Ken Steinhoff, who was at the Palm Beach (Florida) Post for 35 years before taking a buyout, was the best man at Plaid and Lew’s wedding. He tells an interesting story:

Lew was a photographer on the Ohio University Post. He was a nice guy with curly red hair and a pale complexion. He and a beautiful black reporter became an item. You could tell they were getting serious by the sparks that flew between them, and I don’t mean the static electricity kind you get by shuffling your feet on the carpet.

One day they came over and said, “We going to get married and we’d like for you to be Lew’s best man.”

I gave them a long lookover, then, in my most southern of Swampeast Missouri tones drawled, sorrowfully, “You know I like you two, but I’m sorry, but I can’t give you my blessing. There are some things that are just wrong. Wrong. I’m sorry.”

They were crestfallen. They hadn’t taken me to be One of Those People.  

“Lew, your last name is Stamp.”

Looking at his bride-to-be, I continued, “Your first name is Plaid. There is no way in the world that I want to be a part of making you Plaid Stamp until death do you part.”

Of course, I relented. I tried to recruit Lew to work with me at The Gastonia Gazette, but he had the good sense to turn me down. He still pops up on Facebook from time to time.

Warm and great sentiments.

There will be a Celebration of Life from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, February 15 at the Schermesser Funeral Home, 600 E. Turkeyfoot Lake Road.

Plaid’s obituary:

Plaid Lynn Stamp (Casson)

I am survived by my husband of 47 years, Lew Stamp; son, Lewis Stamp III; daughter-in-law, Halie; grandson, Lewis Keith Stamp IV, and oh what a joy he is!

Here in Akron and across the country I have been fortunate to have many wonderful friends with whom I have shared the joys, and tribulations which make life as we know it so rich a tapestry. I am blessed that so many of them have been able to give of their time and energy to pause and visit with me as my time draws short. I am especially blessed to have also been able to share in the lives of the young children of my close friends, and family.

Those close to me know I have a passion for conserving and managing natural resources, energy issues and environmental protection. I see the broad lakes region just south of Akron as more than just isolated communities, but as a living environmental economic district that needed a big picture approach, where quality water was the life blood flowing through the region. My zealousness for these topics is rooted in my growing up next door to a several hundred acre farm and a sprawling Nike missile site, while living only 20 minutes away from the robust culture of Pittsburgh, with my dance class at the University of Pittsburgh and my music lessons in Squirrel Hill.

Over those years I volunteered as a Candy Striper at the hospital, and as a camp counselor. At Chartiers Valley High School I became editor of the school newspaper, followed by a journalism scholarship at Ohio University, where I met and married my husband Lew, we also worked together on the Ohio University POST.

 We both followed our journalism careers on to Dayton, Ohio, where I worked at the Kettering Oakwood Times, and Fairborn Herald. Then after a brief stay in Kansas with the wonderful people at Meseraull Publishing, we moved on to Columbia, Missouri, where I furthered my education at Columbia College and worked at the Daily Tribune.

In 1978, we moved to Akron to work in newspapering, I at the Suburbanite. Later I joined the American Cancer Society to lead the Summit County residential donations campaign. There is a notable irony in that. In addition, I worked in communications for LifeCenter Plus fitness center in Hudson.

In my volunteer life, I was active in and held the position of Secretary for the Friends of Metro Parks Serving Summit County for 20 years, which included traveling to Columbus frequently to meet with Ohio State legislators on environmental issues. I helped found the Friends of Portage Lakes State Parks, a Cub Scout pack (3336), a Boy Scout troop (336) Go Frog Patrol!, served as trustee of Friends for the Preservation of Ohio State Parks, became the president of Portage Lakes Advisory Council for over a decade, sitting on the Technical Advisory Committee, for the purpose of spreading the vision of sustainable living in the Portage Lakes Watershed, Summit County and beyond, where I was active until my death.

There will be a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the Life of Lynn on Saturday, February 15, 2020 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Schermesser Funeral Home, 600 E. Turkeyfoot Lake Road, Akron, Ohio 44319. Memorial contributions can be made in Lynn’s name to the American Cancer Society, 3500 Embassy Parkway, Ste. 150, Akron, Ohio 44333. To leave a special message online for the family, visit our website at www. schermesserfh.com .

Bob Dyer with his daughters; that's Carrie on the right, Kimmie on left

Dyer’s daughter becomes law firm partner

A daughter of Bob Dyer, the best Mark Twain-ish columnist in BJ history, has been named the newest partner in the Columbus law firm of Mansell Law.

Carrie Dyer went to Capital University on her way to becoming a lawyer.

Carrie has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star from 2016-2020.  This award is a peer nominated recognition given to the top 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40.

Bob's other daughter is Kimmie, a nurse in a 3-year program to become a nurse anesthetist.

I’ve met her mother while I worked at the BJ and I can tell you both daughters got their looks from her. With some help from Bob, my Blue Room lunch partner for two decades.

The first time I saw Bob and Becky together I said: “Ken and Barbie.”

Well, the daughters are carrying on the tradition of brains and beauty.

Since Bob makes me laugh out loud at his free-wheeling humor that has made him Ohio Columnist of the Year a zillion times I’ll have to give him some credit for the brains part.

Stan Piatt passes away

Stan Piatt, a WNIR radio legend for 35 years, passed away Tuesday. Cancer got him. He was 68.

The man from Lodi was a graduate of Cloverleaf High School I Medina and Ohio University in Athens.

Bob Dyer has an excellent tribute to Piatt in the BJ.

Go to

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20200211/akron-radio-personality-stan-piatt-succumbs-to-cancer?fbclid=IwAR30N25mHpfuD-xxgCeDOuiBcOKcODAfdA3iJuCKtXlzxBlJQnntyI11vzs

and read it.

Dayton newspaper owned by Cox again

Who knew that it was possible to resurrect a newspaper. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes the next-to-last newspaper in my 42-year journalism career will be a 7-day daily again.

And with its original owner, Cox Enterprises!

Cox agreed to buy the Dayton Daily News back from Apollo Global Management.

Give the Federal Communications Commission an assist for that miracle. The FCC ruled that Apollo could buy Cox’s TV stations ONLY if it stopped publishing a daily newspaper in the Dayton market.

Apollo gets to keep WHIO-TV in Dayton, which Cox had owned, and Cox’s Ohio radio stations. Apollo had to choose between the Dayton TV station and the Dayton Daily News.  The FCC didn’t want one owner controlling every media outlet in Dayton.

To not kill the entire deal, Apollo agreed to sell the Dayton Daily News and the Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News back to Cox.

Former Ohio governor James Cox bought the Dayton Evening News in 1898 and renamed it the Dayton Daily News.  DDN was the afternoon newspaper during my 13 years there. Its sister paper was the morning Dayton Journal Herald.

Cox Enterprises is based in Atlanta.

I went from the Dayton Daily News to the Akron Beacon Journal in 1969 and retired from Ol’ Blue Walls in 1996. So 27 of my 42 years were spent in the shadow of America’s greatest newspaper owner in history, John S. Knight.

But JSK’s shadow, in a way like Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog who "predicts" whether we'll have six more weeks of winter, didn’t show up in Akron every year till after the Kentucky Derby horse race was run on the first Saturday in May. He spent his winters at the Miami Herald. Mr. Knight was wise in so many ways.

To read the Dayton Daily News article, go to https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/cox-enterprises-buys-back-ohio-newspapers-day-publication-continues/q4q4JbHSw0fMzS8dZRDF2H/?utm_source=newspaper&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11583366&ecmp=newspaper_email&&iaccess=fDIvMTAvMjAyMCAzOjA1OjMwIFBNfGVtYWls

Diane Evans & Joe Paparone’s mom passes away

Marian Paparone, former BJ reporter Diane Paparone Evans’ mother, passed away Tuesday, January 21.

Diane’s brother, Joe Pararone, was operations director at Knight-Ridder’s Macon, Georgia Telegraph and a former BJ staffer.

Marian Paparone

Diane and 362 years of BJ experience walked out the door on the same day in 2006, including Jane Snow, the best food writer in BJ history.

Diane, who came to the BJ in 1974, spent a lot of years on the Metro Desk and as a business columnist.

Diane and former BJ editor Jan Leach and Joe Paparone were among those who later started up a media website. They worked closely with Montrose-based Trio Design and Communications on the project.

Marian Paparone’s obituary:

 

Marian J. Paparone, age 89, passed away peacefully on Jan. 21, 2020, with her children at her side. Marian was born in Akron, Ohio, and graduated from Garfield High School and the former Hammel Actual Business College in Akron. Following graduation, she worked at the DeWitt-Jenkins Agency, and years later, she resumed office work part-time at the JCPenney store in Lakemore. Marian's primary vocation was as a homemaker. She enjoyed baking, home decorating, Sunday dinners with family, and the hunt for a good bargain on her frequent shopping expeditions. In 63 years shared with her late husband, Joseph, she especially enjoyed dancing and festivities of the Italian-American community. Her participation in the Italian community extended to service on various committees and as secretary of Akron Lodge #685 Order Sons of Italy of America. Marian was a member of St. Matthew Catholic Church and previously taught Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes to elementary school children. In addition to husband Joe, she was preceded in death by her parents, Antonino "Tony" and Geneva (nee Lipari) Fortuna. She is survived by daughter, Diane Evans; son, Joseph A. Paparone; grandchildren, Lia (Caleb) Jones and Elana Evans, and Nicholas and Alexander Paparone; great granddaughter, Elle Marie Jones, and many cousins and dear friends. The family extends special thanks to Dr. Regina Dorman for her compassionate care and to the nursing staff of Western Reserve Hospice. A visitation and Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, Jan. 24 at St. Matthew Catholic Church, 2603 Benton Ave., Akron 44312, The visitation hour will begin at 10 a.m. and the Funeral Mass will follow at 11 a.m. Burial at Holy Cross Cemetery immediately following. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Akron Lodge 685, Order Sons of Italy, Scholarship Fund.

Long-ago BJ sports statistician John Yee passes away

Former 1990s BJ sports department statistician John Yee passed away Monday, January 13.

I’ll let former BJ sports whiz Larry Pantages, who did such a magnificent and eloquent job of capturing Yee’s essence, tell the story:



John Yee

Today’s obituary notices include John Yee, who became a sports department statistician in 1993 in his 60s and happily learned about daily newspaper journalism after a fulfilling business career in the tire industry with B.F. Goodrich and its successor companies.

John did everything from answering the phone to compiling records to chasing missing head shot high school athlete photos to searching the library archives for much-needed clippings to “punching in” radio and TV listings to working evenings taking box scores on deadline. And more.

John was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge of Akron, including remembering names of coaches and star athletes at the local schools long before Internet searches were available.

He had been a fan of all the teams at all levels since childhood. He was often the face and voice of the Beacon Journal sports department and newsroom when the phone rang and a reader called with a complaint or a request for help.

A favorite story about John took place in the middle of his first football season in 1993 when he answered the phone around the lunch hour and said, “Larry, this caller says Bernie Kosar has been released by the Browns.”

Sports editor Bill Eichenberger and I laughed and told John to tell the caller it wasn’t true. And we checked the AP wire and there was nothing ... until a very short time later, it WAS true.

We always said John was the first person at the BJ to break that news. That made him smile.

He often said how much he liked the work at the BJ compared to his first post-retirement job, bagging groceries. Of course, the groceries never complained like some callers who wanted to yell about a columnist’s opinion or demand more coverage of their neighborhood high school team.

Away from the newsroom, John enjoyed very much sharing stories about his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He also worked diligently with his wife Karen in her business of conducting estate sales at homes all over the Akron area.

Deepest sympathy to Karen and all of John’s family.

Thanks, Larry.

Here is John Yee’s obituary:

John "Gong Gong" Yee, 87, passed away peacefully on January 13, 2020. He was the son of Yee Fook and Ong Shee, born July 9, 1932 in Akron. John was a US Army Korean War Veteran, graduate of East High and University of Akron, and retired from Michelin Tire and Akron Beacon Journal. Preceded in death by brothers, Henry (Lily), Don (Peggy) and Bill; sisters, Tushing (Tom) Fong, Tusmee (Edgar) Wong and Tuskee (Ben) Dong. He is survived by wife of 36 years, Karen (nee Wible); children: Laura (Ron) Baughman, Susan Yee (Pam Mitchell), Sharon Yee (Ken Torisky) Gerry (Kim Blair) Wuchter, Julie (Brett) Reynolds; grandchildren: Nick (Ashley), Alex, Tyler, Connor Baughman; Jamie and Adam Benjamin; Jon, Max, and Grady Wuchter; Ben and Josh Reynolds; great-grandchildren, Adam, Addison, Ethan, and Evelyn Baughman; brother, Dupon (Mary) Yee; sister-in-law, Helena Yee and mother-in-law, Winifred Wible. Private services have taken place.

 

Bonnie Bolden is among a platoon of West Virginia University School of Journalism graduates who came to the BJ.

Others included former BJ managing editor Scott Bosley, who is retired to Kalamazoo, Michigan; the late BJ sports columnist Tom Melody; former Society Features department editor Len Gross; and me, former assistant State Desk editor/newsroom electronics coordinator/television editor John Olesky, retired for 23 years and living in Tallmadge when I’m not traveling the country or the world.

Scott and Tom both are in the Keyser (WV) High School Hall of Fame. Len returned to Morgantown after leaving the BJ.

The late Bill Canterbury grew up in Wayne County, West Virginia, which is adjacent to Mingo County, where I had my first job after graduating from WVU at the Williamson Daily News, before winding up as a quiet BJ reporter.

Tom Moore worked at the Bluefield paper, in the town where John S. Knight was born before he immigrated at the age of 2 to Ohio, before coming to the BJ. He still lives in Akron.

Bonnie left Ol’ Blue Walls in 2006 to pursue other interests.

 

 

 

Tom Ryan was a legendary Barberton “bureau” chief/reporter for the BJ.

 

He also is among those who survived the D-Day landing in France during World War II.

 

And a reporter who had a way with words. When he returned to Omaha Beach 40 years later he wrote this classic remembrance:

 

“I was able to find almost the exact spot on Omaha Beach where I landed 40 years ago. Going to the cemetery at the top of the hill was agony. I choked when I saw all of those white crosses and looked for the names of buddies who died there.

“Several days later, I got mugged and robbed of $100 on a busy Paris Street in broad daylight.

“That makes twice I've been to France and both times someone gave me a hard time. I've had it with that place.”

 

How did Tom handle the landing when 2,400 Americans from the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions died in the D-Day invasion on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944? The troops were pinned down by the German 352nd Infantry Division because the German fortifications were undamaged by a pre-invasion bombing that fell inland.

 

Tom’s explanation:

 

“I just told myself I was dead man and jumped off into the water.”

 

Tom’s co-workers raised $2,100 in one day to pay for Tom’s return to Omaha Beach. And had a bottle of champagne waiting for him when he returned to America.

 

Tom was so determined to be on Omaha beach on June 6 that, when he couldn’t get closer transportation, he walked the last 14 miles, lugging his suitcase. Piece of cake after landing on Omaha Beach amid horrendous German gunfire.

 

When he arrived all the speeches and celebrations were over, but that didn’t matter to Tom. His target was standing on Omaha Beach as near as possible to where he landed.

 

His reaction when he stood on the beach that was so bloodied in 1944: “How the hell did I ever survive the landing?”

 

Tom climbed the hill to the nearby cemetery with about 10,000 white crosses.

 

“I almost choked when I saw them,” Tom wrote. “I cried, I think, because for the first time the memory of that day caught up with me.”

 

Tom also had another legendary skill: The ability to transform Pall Mall cigarette ashes into a gracefully hanging Grecian arch, much to the amazement of awed onlookers. It was his personal trademark. And without flinching while typing his latest story.

 

Tom’s wife, the late Marjorie Ryan, threatened to put this inscription on Tom’s tombstone: “The World Was His Ashtray.”

 

Tom died February 9, 1985 at age of 64 of cancer.

 

The late Terry Oblander’s lead on Tom’s obituary, following Tom’s instructions to the letter: “Tom Ryan was a newspaperman.”

 

There has never been a more accurate description.