By Bill Byrd
FAIRMONT — When the late “John-John,” or John F. Kennedy Jr. saluted his father’s casket on Nov. 25, 1963, the filial gesture of respect from the then-3-year-old broke many hearts.
For some, like former Monongalia County Clerk Michael Oliverio Sr., the moment was even more searing. He himself had lost his mother when he was only 10.
His father, Giuseppi Oliverio, a coal miner in Carolina and Idamay, was 43 at the time. “He had to raise me by himself,” Oliverio said.
Since the early 1980s, Oliverio, 71, who retired in March as Monongalia County Clerk, has been leading the effort to honor the inspirational legacy of President Kennedy — and the bond he forged with West Virginians.
Kennedy’s victory in the Democratic primary helped quiet concerns about his Roman Catholic faith.
He started his primary campaign in Star City in 1960. It was then a bustling center of coal mines and glass plants.
This Father’s Day, on June 17, the late president and his son will return to Star City in a bronze-and-granite memorial.
Entitled “A Father’s Love,” the monument features a life-size, 36-inch tall bronze of “John-John.” He’s saluting a 6-foot-tall, bronze bas relief of his father.
Residents who want a sneak peek of the memorial may see it being mounted on its concrete base on Wednesday. The monument is going up where University Avenue dead-ends at the Gaston Caperton Trail in Star City.
Over the years, Oliverio refined his ideas for the memorial. A critical step, he said, was getting the endorsement of the Kennedy family. He didn’t let his passion for the idea die but his job — for 40 years Oliverio was the administrator of federal-state vocational rehabilitation programs in the region — and family came first.
Oliverio recalls a dinner he had with then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill when O’Neill spoke at West Virginia University in the mid-1980s.
O’Neill chided Oliverio for letting the history of the 1960 Democratic primary and Star City’s role in the campaign “slip through our fingers,” Oliverio said Monday.
In 1998, Kerry Kennedy Cuomo (the late Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter) was the commencement speaker at what was then Fairmont State College. As chairman of college’s board of advisors — by then he had also been elected Mon county clerk — Oliverio seized the chance to talk to her about his idea.
“She just said she could not express how happy her Uncle John would be to be honored by the Star City-Morgantown area,” he said.
Finally, when Sen. Ted Kennedy spoke at party rallies in the region in the 2004 general election, Oliverio got his blessing.
Oliverio then stepped up his campaign. Donors who wanted to memorialize their fathers on a granite wing of the memorial could do so for $1,000. About 80 men have thus been honored.
From his wide range of contacts, Oliverio knew that David DeCarlo, a Morgantown native, is vice president of Matthews International Corp. The firm is a global memorial company with headquarters in Pittsburgh.
Oliverio brought his two “inspirations” for the memorial — the iconic salute by John-John and his desire to honor fathers — to design sessions with Chris Kroll, a senior product designer for Matthews.
Kroll has more than two decades of experience.
His design is “accessible, warm and inspirational,” one that reflects the charisma of the late president, Oliverio believes.
Pittsburgh sculptor Chris Martin did the bronze bas relief of JFK, Kroll said. Alan Cottrill of Zanesville, Ohio, did the John-John sculpture.
The white granite pavers that make up the base of the memorial came from China, Kroll said Monday. The white granite panels come from a Georgia quarry. On the other wing is a bronze plaque honoring four men, all fathers and all deceased, who also provided inspiration for the memorial.
The four are the late: Donald DeCarlo (father of David DeCarlo), a well-known wholesaler in Granville; Emmett Lynch, owner of the Davis-Lynch Glass Co. in Star City; Giuseppi Oliverio (Oliverio’s father); and Antonio Siletta, also a coal miner who came to the U.S. from the Calabria region in Italy “on the same boat with my father,” Oliverio said.
Donations of land, materials and labor have been “significant,” Oliverio said. He estimates the real cost at about $250,000. The Greater Morgantown Community Trust is overseeing the fundraising. Grants were made by the city of Morgantown, the state (about $38,000 in total) and by several local family foundations, he said.
Bill Coffindaffer, a volunteer adviser with a group working to make the riverfront more attractive, said a “very tall flagpole” is a key part of the design. It will be lit at night so drivers crossing the Interstate 79 bridge over the Monongahela River can spot the location of the monument, he said.
The flagpole, which was made in Texas, was donated by Post 629 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Fairmont.
“The memorial will be a very nice feature of the waterfront area,” said Coffindaffer. He believes Morgantown and Star City need more public sculptures to reflect their roles as home to WVU.
Star City Mayor Allen Sharp said he likes the father-son theme.
“It will also bring back many memories for our older residents, many of whom have pictures of themselves shaking hands with Senator Kennedy” in that primary, he said.
E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.
