Moment of silence observed for devoted community man

A moment of silence was observed recently for a stalwart in the Lehighton community who recently passed.

Mayor Clark Ritter requested the gesture for James H. Wentz before the start of Monday’s borough council meeting.

Wentz, 89, of Lehighton, passed away on Feb. 28, which prompted Ritter to speak of the man known as a legend in these parts.

“There are few people here in Lehighton who cannot say he touched their lives in some way,” Ritter said.

Wentz was employed by The Lehighton Area School District for 32 years, where he served as elementary school teacher and principal for 16 years, then continued as an administrator serving as a Supervisor of Pupil Personnel Services for an additional 16 years until his retirement in 1988.

During his time at the LHS, he served as a football coach for 30 years, and as a track and field coach for 28 years.

Wentz served our country with the United States Army during the Korean War attaining the rank of sergeant with the 243rd Army Band from 1950-52 and the 165th MP BN from 1961-62.

He was a lifetime member of the Lehighton American Legion Post 314, and served as chaplain of the AMVETS, the Lehighton Area UVO.

Wentz served on the Lehighton Borough Council, and was a past president of the Carbon County Chapter of the PA Association of School retirees, and was a board member and president of the Lehighton Cemetery Association. An active member of Zion United Church of Lehighton, he volunteered his time with the church consistory, the church choir and served as a Sunday school teacher.

Wentz was an inductee of the Carbon County Sports Hall of Fame, the Lehigh County National Football Hall of Fame, the Lehighton Education & Athletic Foundation Graduates of Distinction, and was honored as a Community Hero by the Mauch Chunk Trust Company.

In addition, he volunteered at Blue Mountain Health System’s Gnaden Huetten Campus and St. Luke’s Gnaden Huetten Lehighton Campus since 2009, with over 11,508 hours of service greeting and directing patients and visitors from the main lobby.

Wentz also held a life membership with the Lehigh Fire Company No. 1 and a membership with the Lehighton Orioles Nest No. 183.

A Funeral service for Wentz was held on Wednesday at Zion UCC, 225 Iron St., Lehighton.