Sue Seibert Farnsworth

Growing up in Wheeling, just across from Wheeling Park, Sue Seibert Farnsworth has had a strong connection to our parks throughout her life. Her early memories of the park span from summers spent swimming daily to teen dances every Wednesday night at the White Palace.

As the daughter of two lawyers — Janice Boone Seibert and George H. Seibert, Jr. — Sue’s path to her 50-year law career in Wheeling seemed almost predetermined. Her professional journey began at her father’s firm, where he was her mentor, imparting nuances of the profession, while her mother stood as a strong role model.

Sue’s life has been marked by a dedication to enhancing the lives of West Virginians, not only in Wheeling but across the entire state. Her commitment to improving education led to a significant milestone when then-Gov. Jay Rockefeller appointed her to the W.Va. Board of Regents in the late ‘70s — she was honored to become its chair in 1980-81. 

Among Sue’s other notable firsts was her appointment as the first female park commissioner to the Wheeling Park Commission in 1992, a role she held for three decades. Additionally, she was one of the founders of the Oglebay Foundation in 1996, where she remains active today. Throughout her tenure as a park commissioner and board member, Sue has emphasized the importance of best practices, professionalism and standard operating procedures, with a commitment to excellence.

Reflecting on the importance of these parks, Sue emphasized, “Our community is incredibly fortunate to have both Oglebay Park and Wheeling Park. Many of the people who live here, especially those who grew up here, have a tendency to take our parks for granted.” She highlighted that substantial resources are required both to maintain them and to invest in their future growth.

Sue, albeit reluctantly, shares her story to underscore the variety of ways one can support the parks effectively. She has employed a number of strategies, including gifting a fully paid, whole life insurance policy used to fund a sculpture exhibit on the historic Hilltop in 2017 as well as funds to install permanently the popular “Miss West Virginia” metal heron sculpture. She also leverages her annual Required Minimum Distributions from her IRA to support Forever Yours: The Campaign for an Enduring Oglebay.

Sue has fond memories of playing tennis, buying a pass at the season opening and challenging herself to have enough play time so the pass would pay for itself before the Fourth of July. Married to the late Carlyle Farnsworth for 44 years, the couple would cross-country ski on the golf courses in the ’70s and ’80s. They enjoyed the parks with their son Tom, daughter-in-law CJ and grandson Holden, as well. Six years ago, Sue married John W. Kepner, celebrating their union with a reception held in what is now the Oglebay Foundation office.

Two of Sue’s favorite aspects of Oglebay Park are its spectacular old-growth trees and dining at the Garden Bistro. Because of the long walk from the parking lot that includes three sets of stairs, she aims to enhance the bistro experience for all by directing her campaign pledge toward purchasing a golf cart. The cart will ensure that everyone can access the Garden Bistro to enjoy, what she considers, “one of the best meals with the prettiest views in the park.”

Talk about making a difference. 

George J. Kontogiannis

George Kontogiannis was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and graduated from Yorkville High School in 1958. Visiting Oglebay during his youth, George had firsthand experience with the importance of green spaces as part of a healthy lifestyle from an early age. 

Earning his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Ohio University, George worked as a registered architect in Columbus, Ohio, after a brief stint in the Ohio Air National Guard. By 1966, he opened his own firm, growing his business into Colonial American Development Corporation, which, today, incorporates his construction business and employs 200 people with more than 4,600 apartment units throughout Ohio, West Virginia and south Florida. 

The businessman purchased land neighboring Oglebay on its northeast side along Peters Run Road where he developed two affordable housing complexes, Oglebay Village and Wheeling Station. A key component of marketing the rental communities is their proximity to the park; residents have incredible access to Oglebay and can leverage park amenities on a regular basis.

In 1996, Oglebay leadership wanted to expand golf opportunities within the park, but more land was needed. Together with the Oglebay Foundation, they approached George about the necessary acreage to add another course. Calculating the value of the land as a charitable gift to Oglebay was a unique business opportunity for George. Thanks to his generous gift of more than 70 acres of land to the Foundation that year, the park was able to move forward with the Palmer Course, which opened in 2000. 

The land donation George made was just the beginning. His gift started a long-term relationship with the Oglebay Foundation. As a good neighbor, friend and benefactor of Oglebay, George’s generosity includes funding tree removal and plantings, adding outdoor furniture to the West Spa Patio area, Access to the Parks Scholarships as well as annual fund contributions. Those are just some of the many ways George supports the park. 

In 2012, George provided funds to refurbish the Oglebay Playground with new equipment and a new safety surface. The playground, adjacent to Schenk Lake, anchors Oglebay’s Adventure Center incorporating minigolf, the Aerial Challenge Course, rock climbing wall, bike rentals and Segways.

George’s early connection to green spaces has led to a lifelong understanding of their importance. We’re fortunate that George continues to find opportunities to support the park with a focus on improving peoples’ quality of life. Talk about making a difference. 

Pete Holloway

Walker Peterson (Pete) Holloway, Jr., 74, remembers attending Oglebay Institute’s summer camps in the mid 1950s and early 1960s, where he benefited from amazing camp counselors, including Joan Schenerlein, Phil Maxwell and Ruth Scherich. 

This rich camp experience took full advantage of the outdoor setting offered by Oglebay, and it was the first time he bumped into a relatively young guy in park management named Randy Worls.

Like many people growing up in the area, Pete’s first job was at Oglebay. He worked at Par 3 picking up trash and mopping floors under the watchful eye of Mickey Donahue.

Lifetime sports eventually became a focal point for Pete, and he has fond memories of great community tennis players such as Jack Wright, Bob Ewing, John Phillips, Jean Loustau, Ogden Nutting, Dot Boll, Anita Whitaker and Julianna Peterson. Pete also remembers the rope tow run by a tractor behind Crispin where he watched Ewing, Nutting, Whitaker, Stuart Bloch and Bill Jones enjoy skiing. “As a kid, it was amazing to see these community leaders actively enjoying sports; it was something I could look up to and emulate,” Pete said.

Pete is astounded that the park gave him access to tennis pros like Whitney Powers, Bob Bennett and Fritz Schunck.

“The longevity of our parks is remarkable. So many of us have this ingrained assumption of Oglebay’s immortality. The Park Commissioners have kept the park system afloat through major crises such as the Great Depression, the stock market crashes of 1929 and 1987, World War II and COVID-19.  Yet, I was struck by the fragility of the parks in 2022 after the horrible ice storm in March followed by the double derechos in June of that year caused so much damage. So many trees that grew old with me were suddenly gone. 

“What makes the difference? When large numbers of people make small gifts. Granting agencies, government support, donors generally make funding decisions based on the level of community support. That’s why I give. Oglebay is my touchstone,” Pete explained.

Pete’s sons, Walker and Murphy, grew up in Oglebay. Pete’s expectation is that their children and grandchildren will do the same. To make that happen, Pete has named the Oglebay Foundation as a beneficiary of his estate. 

That’s making a difference in the parks.

Les DeFelice

For Les DeFelice, CEO of Wheeling, W.Va. – based DeFelice Group, Inc. (doing business as Visiting Angels), his diverse career started at Oglebay Park.

Reflecting on his path and how he got here, Les gets a bit emotional. “In May 1971, I was fresh out of Wheeling High living near downtown with my single mother and two younger siblings. Friendships I made in high school included some of the golfers who encouraged me to apply at Oglebay. I still clearly remember sitting across from Randy Worls, then Wheeling Park Commission president and CEO, for an interview. I was clean cut, polite and respectful, which worked in my favor, and I was hired to work on the Spiedel Course, then 50 percent completed.”

Les’ fond memories of Oglebay began with the interview with Randy’s measured, friendly tone. He worked for Director of Golf Ed Murphy, a driven, exacting perfectionist when it came to the golf courses. 

“Coach Murphy could be terrifying to us young guys. I owe Coach Murphy a debt of gratitude as I developed zero fear, which has benefited me time and time again in business. There were six of us future college freshmen living in a primitive cabin at Caddy Camp, Cabin 5. We would get up at the crack of dawn to cut grass and the greens. At noon, we would be driven back to Caddy Camp where we would have an incredible hot lunch made by Mrs. Ed Murphy with ice-cold milk in tin cups that looked like they were used in the Civil War. Then it was back to work on the course for the rest of the day,” Les remembers with a laugh. “Years later, Coach Murphy said he was proud of what I was beginning to accomplish. With no father in my life, that meant the world to me.”

In the winter months, the crew spent their hours at the modest ski slope located at the Par 3 working the ski lift during the day or making snow all night. The golf/ski-season job introduced Les to a world entirely different from what he knew growing up, enabling him to attend West Liberty. “Working at Oglebay opened so many doors, introducing me to so many opportunities. I went from not having many prospects to having hope for a future, thanks to Randy Worls.”

From a very early age, Les wanted to know how to be successful. Three people at different times in his life shared the following words of wisdom:

“You have to get along with people.” 

“Be yourself.” 

“We’ll love you like baby Jesus, but you’ve got to produce.”

Les continues to leverage these mantras to build his second successful business, which has consistently received honors and awards at a national level for its innovative leadership and hiring best practices. With a career that took him to Chicago, Dallas, Houston and New York City before moving back to Wheeling, the father of two sons says his success is due to “surrounding myself with people smarter than me and always putting everyone on the team ahead of myself. Those are the key factors in currently having 500 coworkers and probably 1,000 by the end of the decade.”

“Generosity is something that I experienced from an early age, exemplified especially by my incredible mother. As I think about giving back, naming the Oglebay Foundation as the beneficiary of a whole life insurance policy is the beginning of how I plan to return the investment Oglebay made in me.”

Talk about making a difference in the parks.

Denise Pentino

Brilliant, Ohio, native Denise Pentino was determined to graduate from college early. To achieve this goal, the then 20-year-old Wheeling Jesuit University student needed to attend summer night classes while earning money during the day, so she applied to be a lifeguard at Oglebay.

“They didn’t hire me to lifeguard; those are coveted jobs that got filled long before I applied. But they took a chance and hired me to paint park signs,” Denise shares. She spent the summer of 1989 lugging a ladder all over the park painting the brown signs with the yellow lettering that still dominate the park. “It was a typical eight-hour day that started at 7 a.m.  –  not a fun start-time for a young college student.

“One day, my supervisor, Dennis Jones, tells me, ‘You’re painting yourself out of a job. Slow down.’ I didn’t understand until I literally painted myself out of a job.”

Dennis took pity on the college student who still needed to earn money and introduced her to the director of horticulture and grounds. “Chris Schenkel thankfully hired me for the rest of the summer. Now I’m lugging heavy hoses and bags of mulch all over the park. It was hard work, and I’m working with a bunch of hardline old-timers who had a very precise and specific way of doing things. I loved every minute of it,” Denise remembers with a warm smile.

It comes as no surprise that Denise achieved her goal and graduated in December 1990 with a degree in political science with a criminal justice minor. Law school at West Virginia University didn’t start until August 1991, so Denise went back to Oglebay and asked if she could work in the greenhouses again.

She spent that winter and spring learning everything she could from the experts – from seed germination to planting flower beds all around the Hilltop. At the end of her first year of law school, other law students were applying for clerking jobs at law firms. However, Denise wanted to go back to Oglebay.  Dave Holloway, the then vice president of human resources,

hired Denise to help the Wheeling Park Commission comply with the newly enacted Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Denise’s new job had her meeting with and interviewing all the department heads throughout the park system and rewriting or creating new job descriptions that made appropriate accommodations to ensure the park’s hiring practices complied with the new law.

“I would come to work all dressed up for my interviews and meetings, but I ate every lunch with my friends on the horticulture and grounds team.”

Today, Denise is the managing partner of Dinsmore & Shohl’s Wheeling office, one of the firm’s offices around the country, focusing her practice on commercial litigation law. “I’ve had a wonderfully symbiotic relationship with Oglebay. The park took chances with me and gave me so many opportunities to break out of my comfort zone. I was blessed to be able to accept these opportunities and, as a result, the park and its people taught me so much. I know it’s said all the time, but Oglebay is truly a gem; it gives so much to the community in very tangible ways.”

As a true lover and user of the park, Denise’s favorite spot in the park is a bench below the Garden Bistro. She walks the arboretum trails regularly “following the red brick path, past Bambi and down to Schenk Lake” bragging to anyone who will listen, “I used to plant these flower beds.”  

Denise has named the Oglebay Foundation as a beneficiary of her estate to give back to the park that helped her get her start and that continues to give her so much.

The Hobbs Family

Landy, Marty and Ward Hobbs grew up in Shawnee Hills. Through lifetimes of summer camps, tennis, swimming, golf and early employment at Oglebay and Wheeling Park, the siblings developed an affinity for the parks that continues to this day.

As the children of the late Ron and Sally Hobbs, their Oglebay connections were pretty much preordained.

Sally was an accomplished equestrian, tennis player and skier. She was involved in Oglebay’s theater, music and cultural offerings. Sally and the three kids performed in many summer musicals in the amphitheater with dad cheering them on.

Ron’s affinity for the parks is better known as one of the longest-serving Wheeling Park Commissioners – for more than 41 years.

Eldest child Landy remembers, “As kids, we all had pool and tennis passes. Mom would drop us off in the park at 8 am with some money in our pockets for a hotdog lunch. We played tennis all day, swam in the afternoon. We knew to be ready to go at a certain time. Sometimes dad picked us up on his way home from work, sometimes we got rides from neighbors and we even walked a couple of times.”

All three identified a first summer job in the park, employment their dad probably had a hand in behind the scenes. Landy worked on construction projects at the Good Zoo, Marty worked at the tennis courts and Ward spent at least one summer painting the Mansion. These early jobs “taught us skills to have pride in our work, establishing a strong work ethic” that has served them all throughout their lives.

Ron’s incredible legacy (see page 14) as a Wheeling citizen, for which being a Park Commissioner was just one aspect, shaped Landy, Marty and Ward’s appreciation of and love for community. They lost Sally in 2016. When Ron passed away last May, the siblings knew they wanted to do something to honor the memory of their dad, but they weren’t sure what.

“Dad wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted his name on a building. He never sought that kind of recognition. When Marty, Ward and I started talking about honoring Dad we all wanted to do something that was important to him. We remember him saying, ‘Most people put their name on stuff without considering how it’s going to be maintained. No one gives money for maintenance, it’s not sexy.’ With this thought, the idea of the maintenance fund began to take shape,” Landy shared.

Having grown up in Wheeling, their paths crossed a number of times. Amy Stauffer and Bob Mead didn’t know each other then, but both attended Oglebay summer day camps during their grammar school years. On October 7, 2021, Bob and Amy celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at the Pine Room with family and friends. In honor of this long history the family is making gifts to renovate and endow Speidel Cottage #4. Thanks to the family’s generosity and love of Oglebay, the Speidel Cottage is now the newly renovated Mead Cottage– a great romance indeed. Read more here.

In 2020, Debbie and C.J. saw firsthand the challenges pandemic related closures were having on the park and decided to make a generous donation using IRA funds. The gift was used in part for a matching campaign that raised $715,000 to support Trees and Trails, the Good Zoo and Gardens – a great fit for the couple’s interest and use of the park. The Kaisers continue to support the park in many ways… talk about making a difference! Read more here.

The Keefer Family established a fund to support the walking trails in Susanne Keefer’s memory. Jay continues to fund tree removal and planting in the park that has meant so much to him during his lifetime through annual gifts to the Oglebay Foundation. He has also made estate plans to support the park’s trees, which will continue to provide for all of us for generations to come. What a gift indeed. Read more here.

Realizing the important role sports has played throughout his life, Carl decided to fund youth tennis and golf activities at Oglebay and Wheeling Park with an IRA Charitable Rollover. Carl has also included the Foundation in his estate to support the lifetime sports that have shaped his life. Read more here.