William E Valentine

William (Bill) E. Valentine, 80, passed away on February 25th, in Columbus, Ohio at home with his family. Son of Robert and Juanita Valentine, born May 14, 1943 in Columbus, Ohio. Younger brother to Bob (Bonnie), who became a best friend in later years.

In his youth he was known for loving his animals and friends, also teasing Bob, and being a scrappy fighter. He graduated from North High School in 1961 and worked at the Columbus Zoo. He went on to military service in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then married Mary Minico. Bill spent time making as much money as he could working and got a job at Timkens. He wanted this so that Mary could stay at home with their son Michael Todd Valentine. A few years later they welcomed a baby girl into their family, Gina Luree.

Bill went on to work in the field of sales, where he shined because of his outgoing personality. After these jobs of providing for his family, Bill found a field of work that he loved in the oil and gas business. He first started leasing land from landowners for a company to drill wells. He was extremely good at this and seemed to have a natural ability to persuade people to allow the company to come into their property for drilling.

As much as he succeeded and loved this aspect of the business he had such strength and determination that he worked his way up to become an executive of Clinton Oil and Gas Company. Bill again worked hard for his family and in later years was very grateful for the work Mary did staying home with his children. He had a true desire to do things his way and went on to start his own company, WE Energy LLC. He had two other successful companies in related fields of the oil and gas business, WEVCO and Terra Minerals. He also owned a property management company VALCO. Bill was still working up until his last week of life.

“Never give up and always persevere”, is what he taught his children and later grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Bill’s positive attitude and outlooks was loved by all those who knew him well. He had 8 grandchildren, Sean, Jeremy, and Justin Martin, Aaron Valentine, Miranda Valentine, Mary Combs (Stephen), Julia Pangalangan (Noah), and Anna Panganlangan. Great-grandchildren that he welcomed to the family with open arms and also impacted greatly, Savanna and Samara. His nephew Ryan Valentine (Lora) and daughters Ali and Abby were also a huge presence in his life and spent a great quality of time with him in his later years. Other surviving family members are beloved nieces Robin and Tia Gilmartin and Travis Valentine.

He also had a son-in-law who became very important to him over the past few years, Gary Shields. Other important family members include Sam Minico (Julie), and Jim Scartz (Deb). Bill had many friends from high school, work, and his community. Many will tell you even though he started as a neighbor, in-law, employer, client, colleague, and customer, he became a friend. He had endless amounts of friends, always seeking an opportunity to connect with those around him. Always smiling, cracking a joke, and lovingly teasing people. He was a character with character. His favorite book was Positive Mental Attitude, which became his motto. He loved his cars, golfing, OSU Football, and visiting Florida.

Bill was a true entrepreneur and self-made man. He loved fiercely and was extremely proud of his family, every day of his life. He was truly resilient as he worked hard to fight his lung disease for over 30 years, never sitting around, never complaining, and never giving up until the end of his last breath. We will never forget all his funny stories and his family will try to always remember the valuable lesson of life that he taught us.

A memorial service celebrating Bill will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 2:00 PM at Schoedinger Northwest, 1740 Zollinger Road, Columbus, Ohio 43221, followed by a celebration of life reception from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.