Marion County Remembers

Remembering S2C Lawrence James Welch, Jr May 7, 1926 - December 12, 1944 ---- Note: He is listed in some places as "Lawrence Junior Welch." ---- S2C Lawrence James Welch, Jr. (Service Number 7561565) was born May 7, 1926, the son of Lawrence and Goldie (Shumaker) Welch. Lawrence was a coal miner, and their family lived in Kingmont, WV. Unfortunately, Lawrence was found dead of tuberculosis in 1928, just 7 short years after he and Goldie married (WV Death Certificate). This left Goldie with two young children to raise by herself- Katherine, 6, and "Junior," 2. By 1930, Goldie and her kids had moved in with her parents, Wesley and Margaret (Kramer) Shumaker (1930 Census). Her father worked at the coal mine. They remained with her parents while her kids grew up. On November 22, 1943, Goldie married widower James Lee Yoho, when Lawrence was 17 and Katherine was 21. S2C Lawrence James Welch, Jr attended East Fairmont High School, though he enlisted in the military before...

Remembering 1LT John Comuntzis (Fairmont) May 12, 1914 - September 7, 1944 ---- "A man more pure and bold and just, was never born on earth." -1932 Fairmont Senior High School Yearbook ---- 1LT John Nicholas Comuntzis (Service Number O-343115) was born in Fairmont, WV on May 12, 1914, the son of Nicholas and Cornelia (Tutulis) Comuntzis. Nicholas and Cornelia were Greek immigrants who settled in Marion County, Nicholas in 1891 and Cornelia around 1913 (" N.J. Comuntzis Dies Suddenly This Morning ," The West Virginian). Their family owned a confectionary store on Adams Street in Fairmont (see "The Comuntzis Confectionary" at bottom) beginning in 1904.  In 1919, the Comuntzis family's world was rocked when Nicholas Comuntzis died suddenly at 41 of meningitis. Cornelia was left to raise four-year-old John and three-year-old Pauline by herself. John graduated from Fairmont Senior High School in 1932, where he played football and was a member of the Kl?ub (...