(Publisher’s Note – Because of Christine’s persistence with helping others in her community, she was selected as last year’s Person of the Year, and if that wasn’t the case, she would be in contention for this year’s award because Thomas, during this pandemic, has not slowed her efforts to help families in need. So, who will be this year’s honoree? LEDE readers will know that answer in one week.)
With whom does one speak about a “Person of the Year”?
Well, there’s the boss of the business where this person is employed, but such a politically correct conversation likely would produce the “does a great job” and “we’re lucky they work here” kind of quotes.
With the person’s mother? “My child is the greatest thing ever created by The Lord.”
And, while that may be true … no.
For this kind of story about this kind of person, one must interview the best friend. The one person who knows it all; the good and the bad; maybe even a little dirt. That is why this interview is with Michelle Frangopoulos, best to friend to Christine McKnickle-Thomas, the LEDE News Person of the Year for 2019.
“She really is the most fantastic person I know,” Frangopoulos said. “And she will do anything she can to help someone. There’s really nothing Christine won’t do to help someone who is down-and-out for whatever reason, and being around her and her attitude really has made me a better person.
“This Quaker Steak & Lube is different from most of them, and she’s the reason why,” Frangopoulos said. “This Lube is part of this community, and you really don’t see that at the other locations so, yeah, I’ll say it. Quaker Steak & Lube is lucky to have her.”
These two ladies have known each other since middle school, and both attended Wheeling Park High School. McKnickle-Thomas is a year older than Frangopoulos, but it was purely by chance that nearly 11 years ago both were hired to work at Quaker Steak & Lube at The Highlands.
“We really didn’t become real friends until later on in life,” she said. “But what I can tell you right now is that she has always been the same Christine. She’s not changed since we were in high school. Straight-forward, matter-of-fact, here’s the truth. That’s what you get, and in these times, it’s refreshing.
“We both showed up at The Lube for interviews, and there we were. We saw each other on that first day there, and we’ve been really tight ever since,” Frangopoulos recalled. “I just think she’s a wonderful person because she will do anything and everything to help another person. She’s incredible. I’ve never heard her say no. Ever. In 10 or so years. Not once.”
“Dine to Donate” events. Free meals for veterans. A complimentary cookout for OVMC and EORH employees. A benefit for an ailing “Johnny O,” a longtime disc jockey in the area. The list literally goes on and on, and as a bartender and the marketing manager of the Lube, McKnickle-Thomas has been the instigator of those fundraisers and also for the annual “Hope for Hines & Friends” event.
“She fell in love with that little boy, so that’s why she created that event for the Rotriga family, and it’s raised so much for the foundation for Hines and for other children here in the Valley the past five or six years,” explained Frangopoulos. “Since we started working here at the Lube, she’s always had the next benefit on her mind. Christine makes them all work, too, because she has so many resources and friends.
“There’s really not a limit when it comes to Christine helping others,” she said. “She wants to make a difference, and she does make a difference because she’s a leader and because she cares.”
Christine and her husband, Reese, have been married since June 2013, and she’s a 1990 graduate of Wheeling Park High. As a veteran in the food-service industry, she’s followed in her mother’s path as Flo McKnickle worked as a waitress at Elby’s for decades.
“And Christine is so much like her mother in so many ways because they both have a heart of gold. I believe her mom brought her up very well,” Frangopoulos insisted. “I’m telling you, if wealth was measured by the size of your heart, Christine and her mother would be the richest people in the world. Without a doubt.
“She deserves this recognition because she’s one of the kindest people I know, and this area is lucky to have her in it,” she added. “I wish the impact she has had on so many people could be measured somehow, but that’s something she doesn’t think about. That’s not why she does what she does for others, and that makes Christine the most awesome person I know.”
