Oscar Doane Montoney, 87, a resident of the Hazelwood Community since moving from Virginia in 1932, departed this life at 4:42 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002, at Ruby Memorial Hospital. He had been in declining health for the past two weeks.
He was born Sept. 1, 1914, at Job, a son of the late Jacob Montoney and Ella Mae Lambert Montoney. He was a direct descendand of Dr. Johannes De La Montague of France and Holland and Rachel Deforest, who were early settlers of New York.
On May 27, 1942, at Philippi, he was married to the former Hattie Marie Weese Fansler, who preceded him in death on Sept. 27, 1990.
Surviving are two daughters, Ella Ruth Montoney, Hazelwood, Donna Weese and husband, Kenny, Beverly; one stepson, Walter W. Fansler Jr. and wife, Juanita, Bridgewater, Va.; two grandchildren, Douglas Kent Weese and wife, Rhea, Beverly, and Amie Marie Weese, Beverly; one stepgrandson, W. Wilton Fansler III and wife, Rebecca, Bridgewater, Va.; two great-grandchildren, Jonathan Michael and Nathan James Weese; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Ernest Kirk Montoney; and one sister, Ruth Montoney Bonner.
He was a graduate of Mt. Clinton High School at Mt. Clinton, Va., with the class of 1931, attended Bridgewater College at Bridgewater, Va., and Mountain State Business College at Parkersburg.
Mr. Montoney enlisted in the West Virginia Army National Guard, Company G, 201st Infantry on Jan. 9, 1937, which was then called to active duty in the United States Army on Jan. 6, 1941. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry, serving as a first lieutenant, with the 664th Ordinance Ammunition Company during World War II in Ardennes and Rhineland and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Infantry Badge for meritorious achievement in France on Nov. 26, 1944. He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action at Luxenburg on Dec. 24, 1944. He was awarded the Grand Cross of Homage and Life Membership in the Military Order of the Ardennes. On Veterans Day, 2001, at the State Capitol at Charleston, Mr. Montoney was awarded the thank-You-america Certificate and the Jubilee of Liberty Medal for his help in liberating France, by a representative of the French Government and Congresswoman Shelly Moore Capito.
He was retired from the U.S. Postal Service on Sept. 1, 1976, with 30 years of service as a mail carrier in the city of Elkins. He was a life member of the H.W. Daniel’s Post 29, American Legion, a life member of the Tygarts Valley Post 3647, Veterans of Foreign Wars, a life member of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 1. He was a member of the Elkins-randolph County Senior Center, the Elkins Lodge 1135, BPOE and was a member of the Cook’s Creek Presbyterian Church at Mount Clinton, Va.
Friends will be received at Lohr & Barb Funeral Home from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today. Final rites will be conducted at the funeral home chapel Sunday at 2 p.m. The Rev. Walter H. Blough will officiate and interment will follow at the Beverly Cemetery at Beverly, where the H.W. Daniel’s Post 29, American Legion and the Tygarts Valley Post 3647, Veterans of Foreign Wars will conduct full military rites.
