My Mound Park Urchin Friend, Bob Lyles, told me many times that he enjoyed my brother, Jim's reminiscing about our home town of Portsmouth, Ohio. Jim and Paul are the only one's of our ten Kegley kids who have remained in P'Town since PHS graduations. Our half brother, Ted Dunham also stayed after WW II, but Ted died a while back.
Jim had The Scioto Voice Weekly newspaper which he published out of Wheelersburg, east of Portsmouth, for several years until he sold to the current owner. He has continued sending in his "High Notes" articles. Thanks for the memories, Jim. I, too, thought a lot of Dick and Lorraine and their cute tow-headed kids, Greg and Barbara.
One day as I left to go up top the park, Dick came out carrying Barbie and told me: "Sammie, Don't ever have kids. They will drive you up a wall." His concern was a sickness which turned out not to be serious, but sometimes causes parents to hurt more than their little offspring.
Sam
High Notes 03-14-2013
Gary
Billups, Wheelersburg, the retired music educator/saxophone professional
musician, is in Hong Kong , China for – what has become an annual event
- a guest appearance on the Tai Po Campus of the Hong Kong Institute of
Education, as instructor in their Jazz Music program. On
this Friday, March 25, he will be performing with three other
professors, or guest instructor/musicians, in the Jazz Music Masters
Showcase concert.
I’ve had some interesting experiences over the past 40-years writing this weekly column for The Scioto Voice. Over
the past two months or so, I’ve been able to re-kindle old
relationships with grade school chums, (Richard Shy and Jerry Heaberlin)
and tell a story about a man in Alaska who, while on a morning walk,
confronts and kills a grizzly bear. The man, Greg Brush,
has the same name as my former neighbor in, Portsmouth , (No apparent
relationship) both of whom also have connections to people in Scioto
County .
Somebody
sent my bear column to Greg Brush, my 65-year old former McConnell
Avenue neighbor, and Greg and I have been emailing each other. Greg now lives in the Dayton , Ohio area, and here are a couple of emails we’ve exchanged:
Jim,
I
received a call over the weekend from one of my Mom & Dad’s old
neighbors about an article that you wrote for the Scioto Voice. They
wanted to let me know about the article and they are going to send me a
copy in the mail. I called the paper today and they gave me your email
address so I thought I’d drop you a note. The Kegley name sure brings
back some old memories for me. My Dad passed away in November 2011. Mom
was not capable of living by herself so we moved her to Dayton, Ohio to be closer to our home (she wanted to stay in Ohio). Mom will be 95 this year. My sister (Barbara – will be 63 this
year) lives in Easley SC and has been there for a number of years.
I left Portsmouth in 1965 to go to the University of Dayton and moved here permanently after graduation in 1969.
I
really more remember Paul, Sharon and Sandy and of course your Mom –
Mamaw Kegley as we called her. I think Sharon and I are about the same
age and Paul was a few years older than me. Are they in Portsmouth
or did they move away? We lived at 1231 McConnell until 1956 and then
moved to Rosemount. Mom & Dad built their home in Friendship in 1978
and were there until Dad died.
We
still have Mom’s home in Friendship. We are going to finish cleaning it
up and try to sell it this spring. I can’t wait to read the article –
like I said it brings back a lot of good memories.
Take care and drop me an email if you have time.
Greg
Greg,
Thanks for the message. When Will Burke and I talked about this story,
he mentioned that one of his brothers went to school with you at
Portsmouth Notre Dame. It was Jeff, or John Burke, and I don't remember
which one he told me.
If Barb is 63, I'm assuming you are 65 or 66?
Paul and I are the only two Kegley kids remaining in Scioto County. Sam and Sandy are in Columbus, George and Sharon are in Florida, and Mary Lou, Bud, Joan and Ted are deceased.
I used to see Dick and Lorraine a lot in Portsmouth. Your Mom is a real sweetheart. Please tell her hello for me.
How about sending some particulars on you, your family, and Barb's life, I'd like to share it with my readers, and family.
Thanks for the response. I actually went to school with Martin Burke – I believe he now lives in the Washington DC
area but have not had contact with him since high school. The day I
took Dad to see his doctor (less than a week before he died) I ran into
Jeff Burke in the doctor’s office. I spoke with him briefly in the
hallway that day – I hadn’t seen him in years. Jeff was a few years
older than me. In high school Martin and I were good friends and I spent
a lot of time at their home.
Our Notre Dame class (1965) had a 47th reunion last October. We had a pretty good turnout and it was good to see some old Portsmouth
faces. Our basketball and football coach (Ed Miller) was in attendance
and it was good to see him and his wife. I will be 66 this year in
October. I’m still working but will be going to a part time position
soon.
I was guessing there were about 7 Kegley kids – I was off by a few! Where to you fit into the order? Who is/was the oldest?
Barb is in Florida (Fort Myers area) right now with her husband (Jim Chapman) doing a little winter get away. What part of Florida is Sharon in?
When they lived in the Portsmouth
area they were in Lucasville. They transferred to SC in the late 80’s
with the NS Railroad and have lived there ever since. Jim retired a few
years ago from the railroad. They have two boys – one in Atlanta and one in Charlestown SC. They have two grandchildren (boys) in Atlanta.
My wife and I have been in Dayton fulltime since 1968 when we met at UD. We married in 1971 and have two children – a daughter (Lori in Cincinnati) and a son (Brian in Indianapolis). They each have two kids so we have a total of 4 grandchildren (4, 3, 2 & 9 months). My wife is from “Russia” Ohio
(north of Dayton) and is the oldest of 11. Her Dad was a dairy farmer and had a 100 acre farm in Russia. It has been great to be part of such a large family!
When
we come down this spring to work on the house I’ll let you know. Maybe
you and Paul could meet me for a cup of coffee at Mom & Dad’s old
hangout – Tim Horton’s.
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