Phillip Montroso's Obituary
Phil Montroso, 76, of South Point, Ohio, passed away on December 4, 2025. Born on December 31, 1948, in Huntington, West Virginia, he was the son of the late Arthur and Betty Jeffers Montroso. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, Dean Montroso. He was the proud owner of Montroso’s Concessions. He is survived by his wife, Joy Montroso; daughter, Sherry Stidham; grandchildren, Kelsea Stidham and Joey Stidham, and their father, Don Stidham, Savannah (Darrius) Boykin and her mother, Heather Williams; great-grandson, Gianni Dean Boykin; sister, Betty Ann Montroso and her son, John Ferrell Jr. His passion for hard work and family began in childhood, helping his Papaw Joe with his apple orchard in Proctorville. He also helped his dad, who owned the skating rink at night, where he learned to become an exceptional skater, even mastering skating backward. In 1963, his parents decided to move to Ironton, Ohio, and established their own fruit farm. In 1967, he graduated from Rock Hill High School. In 1968, Phil was working hard on the apple orchard when a concessionaire from the fair came out and bought several bushels of apples. That night, he went to the fair and realized that the concessionaire was selling one candy apple for more money than he had paid for a whole bushel of apples. Upon seeing this, he started making his own candy apples and selling them to the local markets. He then met his true soulmate and the love of his life, Joy, while playing pinball at May’s Donut Shop. Their very first date entailed driving out to the orchard, making candy apples wrapped, and then delivering them to a grocery store. Things really didn’t change much, because sadly, their last date was setting up at Trade Days some 58 years later. He developed phenomenal hand strength from spinning so many apples, and he would often seize the opportunity to squeeze your hand so hard that it would bring tears to some grown men’s eyes. He enthusiastically played pranks on people and would scare people; nothing was off-limits, even going so far as to accidentally stab his cousin Danny, which led to a trip to the E.R. and a scar he still has to this day. Phil was a true treasure. He enjoyed trains and old vintage toys and visiting the toy shops at the malls. Phil never met a stranger and loved all people, just like Dean did. He was a fan of warm weather and the Ohio State Buckeyes, but above all, he loved the county fairs more than anything. He had been going to the Proctorville fair since he was five years old. Every time he would visit Proctorville throughout his life, he had to go through the fairground. He really loved every fair and event he went to. When he was younger, he would drive to Florida because he couldn’t wait to hit the fairs. Phil ran into friends, he knew everywhere he went. He loved his family, especially his grandkids. He will be remembered for his great sense of humor, jokes, and pranks. Phil had a young-at-heart quality that he luckily never grew out of. Phil had magnetic charisma and an uncanny ability to make friends with anyone, anywhere, anytime, and you couldn’t help but like him. He possessed a rare gift of turning complete strangers into lifetime friends. He did not live an average life—he got to live an extraordinary, amazing life filled with travel, fishing, bonfires, watching football, playing euchre or croquet, and coaching or even umpiring Dean’s baseball games. It truly was a privilege to know him, and he has left a void in so many hearts. Phil was the perfect example of someone who got to live his own American Dream. An exceptional thank you to Danny Montroso, Robbie and Sue Montaudo, Paula Clutters and Dave, Donna McKenzie, Billie Roby, Jack Wells, and Noah Kilpatrick. Special Family and Friends: Kristen, Nathan, Kelly, Susan, Deanna, Trisha and family, Kevin and Brenda, Scotty, Shannon and Shannon, Tommy and Sue, Burdie, Bobbie, Jim, Tami, the Delapa family, Phil Jarvis, Arthur Scarvelli, Jimmy Montroso, Heath, Rodney, and Charalee, Scott Hutchison and family, Dan Ferguson, Freddie Hayes Jr., Bethany Hayes, Don Ashworth and family, Mark McCown, John Irvin and Duke and families, Tony and Lennie, Bill and Lori Sterling, The Haas families, Paul and Ernie Mann, Freddie and Carol Craft, Harry Donald and family, Jim Bowman, Nancy, Kim and Kathy, Rick Harris, Jack, Peggy, Holly, Ashley Harris and families, Chris Tatum, Todd Jenkins, everyone at Fields Welding, Rob and Julie Horn, Bob Payne, Shawn McDaniels, Danny Sullivan, Cherri Sewell, Jeff Lawless, Mike and Alyce Ann, Bo Ramsey, Angie Trego, Marion and Crystal Russell, Frank, Tina, Chester, and Davy, Bill and Tammy Waddell, Chris Collier and family, Patty and Clair, Marshall Daniels, the Hurley family, Mike Finley, Tammy and Freda Montroso, everyone from Oak Mount and Tech Medical, the entire Donahue family, the entire Gahms family, Davena Belnap, Rick and Chad at Fullers, Kevin Edwards, everyone at Lawrence County Fair, Scioto County Fair, Greenup County Fair, Sheila Daughtery and family, and everyone at Trade Days. The entire Cogan family, the entire Brown family, Tina and Glenna, Mike Taylor, and all our storage building customers and county fair patrons. Phil was beloved, respected, and will be remembered by way too many to mention. Private family services will be held. Hall Funeral Home and Crematory in Proctorville, Ohio, is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed to the family at [email protected]
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