Valiere E. “Val” Pentico

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Valiere E. “Val” Pentico, 74, Williamsport, Pa., died Jan. 11, 2021.

A private family service will be held.

Arrangements are under the direction of Sanders Mortuary, LTD.

Val was born in Norfolk May 19, 1946, to Eldred Valiere Pentico and Ella Margaret-Ann Schomberg, Hoskins. He was baptized June 23, 1946, at the Zion East Lutheran Church, rural Hoskins, and confirmed May 29, 1960, at the St. John’s Lutheran Church, Randolph. Val has always been a faithful follower of Christ.

After graduating from Randolph High School in 1964, he attended Aero Mechanics School in Kansas City, Mo. He met his bride, Joell Twaddle, at Crystal Lake, College Springs, Iowa. They married July 31, 1966, at First Methodist Church of the same town.

Having enlisted in the Army National Guard in May 1966, he left for his basic and AIT training at Fort Polk, La., immediately following their marriage. Upon his return, they moved to Randolph, where they farmed for 20 years. In that time, Val was discharged in May 1972 as a Corporal E-4. After their days farming, they relocated to the area of Sioux Falls, S.D., where he worked in sales, home renovations and finally as a bus driver for a local school district. In 2011, they moved to Williamsport, Pa. For the last seven years, he was a bus driver and worked in building maintenance at Blessed Beginnings Day Care.

Val had a deep love for working with the youth whether it was as a church youth sponsor or as a 4-H leader. He was a 4-H Club Leader of the Allen-Eastern 4-H club for 13 years, served on the Pierce County 4-H Board for eight years, and as an Ak-Sar-Ben Livestock Show Team Member for 11 years. He and his family also hosted a foreign exchange student, who was like a fourth child, from Stanvanger, Norway, Gunnar Veire.

Val was an avid lover of the land with a passion for plowing the earth over in the spring and the smell of a newly cut hayfield.

The fondest memories we have as his family are the many sayings we like to call “Valisms”. Such sayings include “what a hoot,” “load of dirt,” “slipped in a ditch,” “I’ve been to two goat races and a county fair and I’ve never seen anything like that,” and he found his life to truly be “beautimous.” These sayings will live on through his wife, three children and six grandchildren whom he loved above all else.

Surviving are his wife, Joell; children, Julie (Kyle Rude) Pentico, Williamsport, Pa.; Eric (Sheryl Clement) Pentico, Ellensburg, Wash.; Jason (Anne Weiland) Pentico, Bellevue; grandchildren, Lauren, Connor and Emma Rude, all of Williamsport, Pa.; Gracie Pentico, Ellensburg, Wash.; and Kellen and Corynn Pentico, both of Bellevue; brother, Roger (Pam) Pentico, Salina, Kan.; a sister, Margaret Pentico (Lonnnie) Svitak, Randolph; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Eldred Valiere Pentico and Ella Margaret-Ann Schomberg.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Faith Wesleyan Church, 1033 Tucker St, Williamsport, PA 17701.