Grace Amanda Shankweiler, 107, of Valley View, passed away Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Carl and Cynthia Shankweiler, in Valley View. Born April 28, 1916, in Valley View, she was the daughter of Samuel W. and Lillyann (Maurer; usually called Annie) Starr. She was the youngest and last surviving of their nine children, the others being the Rev. Ralph E. Starr (Marie), Carrie M. Bowman (Ray), Earl W. Starr (Lula, Mildred), Florence A. Schreffler (Howard), Samuel R. Starr (Arlene), Irene E. Blyler (Russell Miller, Roscoe), Theodore E. Starr (Mary Elizabeth), and Ambrose M. Starr.

Grace's family had been living in Valley View about two years when she was born; prior to that they had lived near Rough and Ready, Pa.. Grace attended school in Valley View until she and her classmates moved in October 1928 into the newly built school that is now the Tri-Valley Junior-Senior High School, graduating in 1933. She attributed school librarian Clara Dyer Coleman--who had also been an advisor for youth activities that Grace enjoyed--with convincing her to attend Kutztown. She became a 1935 graduate of the two-year elementary curriculum at Kutztown State Teachers College, returning to complete her bachelor's degree in 1940. She was the Grand Marshal of Kutztown University's Sesquicentennial Parade in 2016. She did further study at Bloomsburg and Elizabethtown to become certified in 1959 to teach in special education and also did graduate work in the 1960s and 1970s at Bloomsburg and Millersville to earn her Master's Equivalent.

In the summer of 1937 Grace joined friend Mary Hoffman to work at the Miller Cottage hotel in Atlantic City, where she met Carl B. Shankweiler of Kutztown, whom she married April 12, 1941. They had two children, Carl D. Shankweiler (Cynthia Herb), a Lutheran pastor, and Sally Sue Reeser (Ronald Crider, Robert Reeser), a retired reading teacher and church musician. She is also survived by three granddaughters (Rana Dimmig, Amanda Crider, and Anna Crider) and three great-grandchildren (Malachy, Kaylee, and Mackenzie Dimmig).

Over her career, Grace worked as a teacher in the first, second, and third grades and in special education, all in Hegins Township schools and its successor, Tri-Valley. (She did not teach special education in Mar Lin, as a 2021 article about her stated.) She retired in 1979. A former student who remained in touch with Grace to the end of her life, Betty Jane Guers Tyndall, calls Grace "the most gentle, kind, caring teacher I ever had. She left such a big impact on my life." Another former student, Kay Minnich Morrow, one of Grace's first students in first grade, wrote in her greeting on Grace's 100th birthday, "I love the way you have always remained so active, so optimistic, and so completely absorbed and kind to others. In my mind, Grace, you have always been beautiful inside and out."

Grace's husband Carl, a World War II veteran who worked as a pressman at Seider's Printing, Pottsville, for the last two decades of his career, also retired in 1979 and died in 1983. Grace remained active in community activities such as Senior Citizens, Meals on Wheels, church activities (she was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Valley View), traveling, and games with groups of friends. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and made big charts of her family's genealogy. She was an avid reader and Scrabble player until her eyesight made those activities impossible; but she continued to enjoy recorded books and the video lectures that she, Carl, and Cynthia watched together. In 2020 at age 104 and for the first time in her life, she recorded a video endorsement for presidential candidate Joseph Biden.

Considering the world in which she lived, Grace once wrote, "If I could change anything that happened in the past it would be to eliminate wars. Having lived through one (meaning World War II) and realizing the destruction that wars cause, I would like to see countries settling their differences with words instead of bombs!"

Grace drove a car until she was 97 and lived by herself until she was 100, joining her son and daughter-in-law only after she suffered a fall. She enjoyed relatively good health and was basically able to care for herself until early December. When asked often what the secret to her long life had been, she would usually respond, "three almonds a day." Her family would add it was her strong will to be independent and drive to put one foot in front of the other, even when there was hardship. Her focus on positive thinking, forgiveness, and love has impacted us all. Grace is remembered fondly as "amazing" in many ways.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Carl B. and Grace A. Shankweiler Fund for Education at Trinity Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 153, Valley View, PA 17983. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 13, 11:00 a.m. at Trinity, 1220 W. Maple St., Valley View.

Buffington-Reed Funeral Home, Inc, Valley View, is in charge of arrangements. Condolences can be left for the family at www.buffingtonreed.com