John Jerry Valenta

John Jerry Valenta, beloved partner, brother, Dad, Grandad, and Great-Grandad, passed away at Morningside Ministries on Sunday, November 24, 2024 after a brief battle with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD). He was 69 years old and lived in Berclair, Texas his whole life.

John was born September 26, 1955, in Beeville, Texas to Felix Rudolph Valenta and Ellene Ida Mae (Hertel) Valenta. He was the eldest of three children, sharing his childhood with two sisters, Nancy and Ann. In his adult years, he was blessed with a family of two daughters and a son, raised on the 3rd generation family farm.

As a child, John was your typical first-born son, working and playing hard alongside his family on his parents’ corn, milo, and wheat farm in the Candlish Community. He enjoyed anything in the outdoors and lovingly terrorizing his two younger sisters any way he could. Throughout school, he was active in number sense (thanks to having a math teacher for a mother!), agricultural, and welding programs at A.C. Jones High School, showing talent when it came to working with metal, mechanics, and row crops. Upon graduation in 1974, John attended Texas A&I University in Kingsville, Texas where he studied agriculture. His wait to become a farmer was not long, as he was called home to run the farming operation prior to completing school at just 20 years old when his father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. He farmed thousands of acres for 49 years over Bee and Goliad Counties, active in the fields until his passing. He raised three children of his own on the farm, it wasn’t uncommon for the whole family to be out on tractors or helping out any way they could. He met his beloved partner, Patty Bates, in 2008 and they enjoyed 16 years of happiness together — with additional joy added by her kids and grandkids.

When he wasn’t on a tractor working the land, you could find John playing 42 Dominoes with his family, shooting pool with his friends, skeet shooting, farm truck racing, and antique tractor pulling. He loved hog hunting most of all and always found a way to work an evening hunt or a morning “welte” around the community into whatever he was doing. He enjoyed spending time with his kids and grandkids, even becoming a soccer coach to his son’s team….with his signature Wranglers and work boots on! 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Felix and Ellene Valenta.

Survivors include his partner, Patty Bates; three children, Jen (Michael) Crownover, Joshua (Megan) Valenta, and Allison (Cody) Young; two sisters, Nancy (Don) Liska of Beeville and Ann (William) Warwas of Yorktown; eight grandchildren, Reid and Boogie Crownover, Harper, Wyatt, and Sawyer Valenta, and Brayson, Sutton, and Tilly Young; and one great-grandson; Lucas Crownover.

Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday December 7, 2024, at Faith Lutheran Church in Beeville, Texas. The memorial service will begin at the church at 11 a.m. with Rev. Donald Taylor officiating.

Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Mark Sugarek, Fred Dodd, Jerry Gray, Don Liska, William Warwas, Tee Lutz, Dan Mark Hencerling, Joe Dee Johnson, and Michael Crownover, Jr. We thank each of them for the impact they’ve made on John’s life and support they’ve offered to him over his years.

The family asks in lieu of flowers or donations to the family, please send rain when the farmers need it most, and not when they don’t! Memorial donations given in his honor should go to the Berclair Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 543, Berclair, Texas 78107; Faith Lutheran Church, 1500 E. FM 351, Beeville, TX 78102; or a charity of your choice. 

Arrangements by Galloway & Sons Funeral Home, Beeville, Texas.