+MARIAN BERTA WILEY+

One of our dear angels of '58 - Marian Berta Wiley - passed away on February 3, 2008. Here is the death notice from the Enquirer:
WILEY Marian Rose, nee Berta. Beloved wife of Roy Lee Wiley. Beloved mother of Daniel (Randi) Wiley, James Wiley, Lisa (Richard) Jeandron, Albert (Kristine) Wiley, David (Robin) Wiley, Vicky (Edward) Downey and the late Patrick Wiley. Loving grandmother of 13 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. Devoted sister of James Berta. Passed away Sunday February 3, 2008 residence Harrison OH formerly of New Orleans LA. age 67. Visitation in the John C. Brater Funeral Home, Harrison OH Wednesday from 5-8 PM. Mass of Christian Burial in the St. John The Baptist Church on Thursday February 7 at 10:30 AM. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Fund through the funeral home.
The rest of this information was obtained from Roy, who kindly shared some memories of Marian and their life together:
Marian was born in Cincinnati and baptized in St. George Church. When she was growing up, her dad was the chef at Mecklenburg Gardens - he even had a TV show for a while! She met her husband, Roy, when she was a student at OLA. The first time she met him, she asked him whether he liked Ricky Nelson. When he said no, she smacked him in the face. Right then and there he decided he wanted to marry such a passionate person - he proposed to her on the dance floor at Castle Farms at our Senior Prom! They were married for 46 years.
They lived outside New Orleans, close to Slidell, Louisiana near Lake Pontchartrain. Just hearing those names brings back thoughts of devastation and loss, and indeed Marian and Roy were right in the center of the storm. They had sustained winds of 140 mph with gusts of 170. Fortunately, they did not try to ride it out but took refuge in another town. Although their house survived the winds pretty well, it was damaged completely by the water surge that followed. They lost everything in Katrina, especially irreplacable things like 27 albums of pictures. Even their wedding album was taken. Roy now has one picture of their wedding day that someone has given him which he treasures - that is the picture taken in front of Our Lady's statue outside OLA.
After the hurricane, they stayed a while in Baton Rouge, until Marian said, "Let's go back home to Cincinnati." With the insurance money from Katrina, they were able to make a new start in the city in which they were both born and raised. Marian had been in ill health since the death of her son in 2001 and quietly died two years after they came back. She had a good life with her husband and children and is missed by her family and friends.
Marian, May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May all the other Angels of '58 who have gone before us welcome you into that great reunion in heaven.

NAME THAT ANGEL

This was the beginning of a musical career for this '58 angel. Can you name her? Click on comments to make a guess. Keep watching for the answer.
Hint: she was very involved with music in high school and still directs a choir and teaches music.
If you'd like to be a NAME THAT ANGEL e-mail a picture to me or snail mail it to me at 98 Albert St. 45217 Mary

SNOW DAY AT OLA

This is a shot on Bertus St. looking toward the site where OLA used to be.

I cannot for the life of me remember one snow day when we didn't have to go to school. I do remember that the bus from Greenhills never made it. How I envied those Greenhills girls! But the darn city buses always came eventually. It was a treat, though, to go to Friends in Lockland to have a hot chocolate while we waited for the school bus to come. What are your memories of snow days?

SAVE THE DATE

Welcome to the OLA class of 58 blog. I just received my flyer giving the date of the reunion - Sunday, September 21, 2008 at Clovernook Country Club. I know it's been a long time every time I go by the place where the school used to be and look at the houses!
I volunteered to set up this blog so that we could all keep in touch and keep informed. Maybe we can test our memories with some class trivia also. To be part of the conversation, just click comments at the end of this post. You can then sign in with your name or you can sign in as anonymous. I do read the comments before they are published - I understand that it's a good idea to do that since tricksters on the internet are always looking for bogs they can fill with garbage... and worse!
There are a few comments on my first post. I asked a few friends to comment so that we could work out the bugs.
So I hope everything is running OK by now. Let's keep the conversation going! Mary