Long-time Applefest chairman O’Brien dies at 80
WELLSBURG — The city has lost an active community member with the death of Michael O’Brien on Sunday at the age of 80.
Many who didn’t know O’Brien by name saw him during the Wellsburg Applefest, which he chaired since 1982. Dressed in denim and wearing a red handkerchief scarf and pot for a hat, O’Brien assumed the role of Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman to greet visitors of the three-day fall festival.
But O’Brien’s involvement in the city went far beyond the guise of the legendary figure known for planting apple seeds in several states, including Ohio and West Virginia.
Tom Zurbuch, a fellow member of the former Downtown Wellsburg Association, recalled O’Brien was among several business owners who teamed to launch the Applefest in 1979, when it was suggested by Mary Dawson, a West Virginia University Extension agent.
Zurbuch noted the event started as two days and later was expanded to three and occasionally four, to coincide with a riverboat stop, under O’Brien’s leadership.
Ernie Jack and Rita Ramsey, who headed the Applefest committee with O’Brien, said he saw the festival as a way to both attract new visitors to Wellsburg and preserve its history.
Jack noted when the city was flooded just weeks before the festival in 2004, and its streets were covered with mud and debris, some thought it should be canceled. But he and O’Brien believed that it should go on to boost the morale of the affected residents and help nonprofit groups that take part, Jack said.
“With the help of the National Guard and others, the city was cleaned up, and we had Applefest,” he said.
Jack noted O’Brien kept his shoestore on Charles Street open during the festival and encouraged other business owners in downtown Wellsburg to do the same.
Ramsey, who also is O’Brien’s cousin, noted the store was a major part of his life. He had worked for his aunt and uncle at Barth’s, the shoestore started by his grandfather, before taking over the store in 1969 and moving it later to 741 Charles St. He re-named it Michael’s Shoes but posted the large Barth’s sign inside.
After he closed the store in 2000, the sign found a new home in the Brooke County Museum. Following his death, a large photo of O’Brien as Johnny Appleseed has been posted in a window there in his honor.
Ruby Greathouse, museum curator, said through appearances at the Applefest and schools, O’Brien helped to educate the public that the legendary figure was a real person.
O’Brien once said “Better Known as Johnny Appleseed,” a book by Mabel Leigh Hunt, mentions Chapman planting an apple tree nursery for Thomas Grimes, a Wellsburg farmer who lived off state Route 27 in 1802. He said seeds from Chapman are believed to have spawned the Grimes Golden variety of apple discovered there. The variety, which was used to produce the Golden Delicious apple, was the inspiration for the Applefest.
Robin Snyder, a Brooke County magistrate and fellow Applefest committee member, noted O’Brien worked with others to restore the small roadside park along Route 27 near the former site of Grimes’ farm.
Greathouse said O’Brien’s interest in local history extended beyond Chapman. She said when the Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation re-enacted the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition in 2003, he arranged for the group to stop in Wellsburg, where they visited Brooke Cemetery and the grave of Patrick Gass, the first member of the expedition to publish an account of it.
Over the years O’Brien was an active member of St. John Catholic Church, heading its Mardi Gras fundraiser for more than 25 years; the Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce, serving as Christmas lighting chair for more than 20 years; and the Wellsburg 4th of July Committee, serving as chairman and fundraising chair.
Tom Zurbuch noted O’Brien was a fellow Wellsburg Lion, handling publicity for the club’s fundraisers and represented the group at funerals.
Jack said in his later years, though poor health kept O’Brien from taking part in the Lions’ Adopt a Highway cleanup of state Route 2, he would meet fellow members at each end with cleanup supplies and beverages.
Mayor Sue Simonetti said O’Brien’s varied community activities aside, she will remember him most for his kindness. At a time when she was dealing with health problems, he offered her encouragement and shared prayers he carried on his person, she recalled.
“He was just an all-around good person. He was a pillar of our community, and he’s going to be missed,” she said.
Snyder agreed, saying, “He was a really nice person and he will be missed.”
O’Brien is survived by four children, Raymond “Butch” Smith of Wellsburg, Michael Smith of Follansbee; Karan Kleptz of Goshen, Ind.; and Amy Pearson of Evanston, Wyo.; a sister and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Visiting hours are from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Mullenbach Funeral Home in Follansbee. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. John Catholic Church.
(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)
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