William Eugene Valentine

William (Bill) E. Valentine was born to William and Helen Valentine in New Philadelphia, Ohio on July 3rd, 1927. Bill was the second of six children born to the Valentine family. Bill had two sisters and three brothers. Bill was a veteran of the United States Navy where he proudly served as a Seabee during World War II. Following his Navy service he attended Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. While in Tiffin he met, fell in love with, and married Phyllis McElhenny. Phyllis was the only daughter of the city’s fire chief Ralph McElhenny and his wife Virgilia. Bill was an avid athlete prior to his Navy service and continued with his love of sports while attending Heidelberg. He played halfback for the 1948 student Princes team during their undefeated season. At the conclusion of his senior year he began working at the National Machinery Company and purchased a home for himself, Phyllis, and new daughter Jude Ann just down the street from the National. Bill spent thirty five years holding numerous positions and knew every facet of the plant and

management operations. Sports remained a significant part of his life as a coach, referee, umpire, and athlete.

He found many of his fondest hours working in the freezing rain of a high school football game and created every imaginable way of staying both warm and dry during the contests. Bill became a highly respected sports official in basketball and football and the coach of Jude’s swimming team. His greatest sports passion was golf. He was a lifelong member of the Mohawk Country Club in Tiffin and any time he was not working, raising his daughter, or attending to Phyllis’s needs he was on the golf course. Bill retired from the National in 1988 and later moved to Sun City West in Arizona. In 1989 and 1990 he and Phyllis followed daughter Jude, grandson Rob, and son-in-law Bob to the sunny shores of the island of Oahu. Each of those years they spent six months in paradise and were able to enjoy little Rob as he grew. Shortly after their last visit to Hawaii they were pleased to welcome the birth of their second grandson Jefferson Michael. The families got back together at their new stateside assignment at Fort Rucker, AL. Bill remained active in the world of golf by taking a position at Trail Ridge golf club in Sun City West and did every imaginable job from running the coffee shot and snack bar to being a starter. Any job that would keep him with a golf club close at hand was welcomed and he would have done it for no pay just to be close to the game he loved. Bill and Phyllis were life-long members of the Catholic Churches where they lived. Bill always found a way to serve the Lord and the church as an usher. He ensured that parishioners were in the right place and the right time so services could start on time. He was a true servant of both the church and the Lord. In 2010 Bill and Phyll relocated to Orlando, Florida to be close to Jude, Bob, and the boys. Shortly after that Phyllis got the Tiffin bug and they bought a small home within a hundred yards of the place they had called home for decades. Both Phyllis and Bill spent their final years living with Jude Ann and Bob and the two grandsons they adored in Orlando. Phyllis preceded Bill in death in 2013 and was buried at Chapel Hill Cemetery in Orlando. Bill will join his life-long partner and wife underneath a grand live oak tree overlooking a pond with water birds, cranes, squirrels, and turtles. Bill was a lifelong member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Order of Catholic Foresters, Knights of Columbus, and the Moose. Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Eugene and Helen Valentine, brother David Michael Valentine, sister Eleanor Morgan, and wife Phyllis. Surviving family members include brothers, Ted and Jim Valentine, and younger sister Ruth Ann Shaltz, daughter Jude Ann (Valentine) Wright and her husband Maj (USA, Ret) Robert E. Wright, and their two sons, William Robert (Rob) and his wife Kelly, and Jefferson Michael Wright.