Lavent, Valere Albert - 1920-2013

AMATANGELO, AUDAS, BLAIN, DOTY, LAVENT, SENGER, SIKES, STREICH

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 6/13/2021 at 16:08:43

Valere Albert Lavent, 93, of Brooklyn, Iowa, passed away peacefully at home, Thursday, August 1, 2013. Graveside Services: 8:00 A.M. Tuesday, August 6, 2013, Brooklyn Memorial Cemetery, Brooklyn, Iowa with military honors. There will be a visitation from 5 to 7 P.M. Monday, August 5, 2013 at Kloster Funeral Home, Brooklyn.
Valere was born January 5, 1920, to Rene Lavent and Mary Malfait Lavent, in Brooklyn. He attended rural country schools completing the 8th grade. He was united in marriage to Francine Johnston on February 9, 1945.
Valere possessed a passion for flying machines from the very young age of 6. When a traveling barnstormer came to town, he talked his parents into letting him take his first ride in a WW I "Jennie" for a penny a pound.
After serving in the Army Air Corps during WW II, Valere turned his passion into his profession by constructing an airport along Hwy 6 two miles northeast of Brooklyn where he operated Val Air Activities, an air-taxi service contracting with General Telephone of the Midwest and others. In 1998, the airport was sold and is currently home to Skydive Iowa. He was an active member of the Brooklyn Flying Club in the 1950s and 1960s where he also gave flying lessons for many years. He was a member of the Brooklyn American Legion & various aviation societies.
Valere enjoyed a lifetime of creativity, remodeling homes, building an experimental aircraft, creating tools, and farming. He also enjoyed his family, growing flowers, bird watching, dancing, and playing checkers.
Valere is survived by his three children, Douglas Lavent, Montezuma, Debra Lavent and Valerie Blain, Arlington, TX; six grandchildren, Kenneth Lavent, Montezuma; Wendy Lavent (Marcellus) Amatangelo, Des Moines; Erin (Doty) and husband Dr. Ryan Senger, Blacksburg, VA; Nathan Doty and wife Jordan, Mansfield, TX; Jacob Blain, Arlington, TX; and Jillian (Blain) Sikes and husband Ron, Falls Church, VA; and two great grandchildren, Tori Streich, Creso, IA; and Jackson Phillip Doty, Mansfield, TX.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 67 years, brothers George and Marcel, sisters Margaret and Madeleine, son-in-law, Curtis Blain and daughter-in-law, Linda (Audas) Lavent.
Source: Poweshiek County Chronicle Republican; August 7, 2013