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WEIRTON -- Thomas N. Banketas has been named among the members of the 2018 Class of the Weirton Hall of Fame, set to be inducted under the category of philanthropy.
This year's induction banquet will be held at 2 p.m., Aug. 12 at Undo's in Weirton. Tickets are on sale at a cost of $30 per person, and are available at the Weirton Municipal Building.
Banketas was born in Weirton in March 1940, earning a bachelor's degree at West Liberty State College and a master's at West Virginia University. He also is a U.S. Army veteran and married to the former Geraldine LaPosta.
Banketas was a teacher in Hancock County for 14 years, during which time he began building and investing in residential real estate and other businesses. For 35 years, beginning in the early 1980s, we was the founder and co-owner of a retail business on Sanibel Island, Fla. He and a partner also formed Orion Development, a commercial development and construction company whose first major project was Brooke Plaza in Follansbee. The company also has been involved in developing, building, financing and owning dozens of Rite Aid Pharmacy stores in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as developing and building for CVS, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Advance Auto and other national tenants.
Currently, Banketas has been focusing on the completion of the new Weirton Christian Center building on Ivy Street, becoming involved in January 2017. The 9,000-square-foot building includes two stories with classrooms, offices, a computer center, media room, several bathrooms, a kitchen, cafeteria and elevator.
For years, he has been involved with various organizations and individuals, including local churches, building shelters for Hounds Haven and the Hancock County Animal Shelter and recently donating a building for abandoned for feral cats and kittens.
He has contributed to the High Rock Education Corp. in Hillsboro, W.Va., which sponsors programs for those age 12 to 29, as well as the Glickman Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, the Dunbar Recreation Center, Salvation Army, House of the Carpenter, Chester-Newell FISH, Urban Mission Ministries and more.
In addition to Banketas, this year's inductees include John B. "Pat" Porco in the category of sports and athletics; Victor A. Greco, public service; Dr. Gurdev Purewal, philanthropy; William Paolisso Jr, sports and athletics; Gary Mastromichalis, public service; Curtis Allen Lehman, music and fine arts; James J. Guida, business; and Dewey Guida, business.