Otto V. Pence
{{Short description|American politician (1882–1936)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Otto V Pence 1916.jpg
| birth_name = Otto Vernon Pence
| birth_date = {{birth date text|1882}}
| birth_place = Shenandoah County, Virginia, U.S.
| death_date = {{death year and age|1936|1882}}
| death_place = Roanoke County, Virginia
| resting_place = Sager Cemetery, Alonzaville, Shenandoah County
| office1 = Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Shenandoah County
| term_start1 = 1916
| term_end1 = 1920
| predecessor1 = C. O. Miller
| successor1 = J. Homer Copp
| party = Republican
| image_size = 200px
}}
Otto Vernon Pence (1882 – October 31, 1936) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates.{{cite book |last= Swem|first= Earl G.|author-link= Earl Gregg Swem|title= Register of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1776–1918|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faY9AAAAYAAJ|access-date=July 2, 2020|year=1918|publisher= Virginia State Library|location= Richmond}}{{cite book|last= Dodson|first= E. Griffith|author-link= E. Griffith Dodson|title= The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1919-1939|page= 296|url= http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006260269|access-date= February 21, 2016|year= 1939|publisher= Virginia State Library|location= Richmond|archive-date= October 24, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201024143849/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006260269|url-status= live}}
Early life, education and family
Early life
Otto Vernon Pence was born in 1882, one of three sons born to Jacob and Sarah (Painter) Pence, residents of Timberville before moving to Shenandoah County, where Otto was born.{{cite news |title=Otto V. Pence |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54578754/otto-v-pence/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The News Leader |date=November 3, 1936 |page=3}}
His father, a widower of three years, was found shot dead on June 4, 1931, at the age of 74. He had been ploughing corn on his son's farm three miles west of Woodstock, and was found by a grandson, Billie Pence, lying next to a .22 calibre rifle. A coroner's investigation could not determine whether or not it was an accident.{{cite news |title=Man Found Shot to Death in Cornfield |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54579227/man-found-shot-to-death-in-cornfield/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The News Leader |date=June 6, 1931 |pages=7}}
Otto had two brothers, one of whom predeceased Otto. The other, Walter Pence, survived Otto.
Career
Shenandoah County voters twice elected Pence as their (part-time) representative in the Virginia House of Delegates, first in November 1915 (for the term that began the following January) and re-electing him in 1917 (for the term that ended September 9, 1919.Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 610, 614 In November 1919, Shenandoah County voters elected him as their County Clerk.{{cite news |title=Republican Ticket with Lone Exception Wins in Shenandoah |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54582247/republican-ticket-with-lone-exception/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The News Leader |date=November 6, 1919 |pages=1}}
In 1926, he was elected to the board of directors for the Shenandoah Valley Estates.{{cite news |title=Pence is a Valley Estates Director |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54581903/pence-is-a-valley-estates-director/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The News Leader |date=November 18, 1926 |pages=3}} He served as commonwealth's attorney in Shenandoah County for eight years, and studied law while in this position.
On September 20, 1933,{{cite news |title=Woodstock Man Given Court Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54579587/woodstock-man-given-court-post/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The News Leader |date=September 21, 1933 |pages=2}} he was made Deputy Clerk of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, working in Roanoke County.{{cite news |title=O. V. Pence, Court Aid, Succumbs at Roanoake |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54577776/o-v-pence-court-aid-succumbs-at/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The Times Dispatch |date=November 1, 1936 |pages=1}} The previous Deputy Clerk, Frank H. Hall, had jumped to his death the previous week.
Personal life
He married Eva Lena Peirsel of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. They had at least two children: Jay Peirsel Pence and William G. Pence. On June 23, 1948, Jay married Helen Avis Grimm.{{cite news |title=Miss Grimm Becomes Bride, Of Mr. Pence |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54578500/miss-grimm-becomes-bride-of-mr-pence/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The Times Dispatch |date=July 2, 1948 |pages=28}}
On October 31, 1936, he died at his home in Roanoke County. His funeral was held three days later at Woodstock Lutheran Church, and he was buried in Massanutten Cemetery.
He was a Freemason, and had Masonic rites performed at his funeral.{{cite news |title=Funeral of O. V. Pence is Held at Woodstock |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54581804/funeral-of-o-v-pence-is-held-at/ |access-date=July 2, 2020 |work=The Times Dispatch |date=November 4, 1936 |pages=8}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{VaElectionsDatabase|5456}}
- {{Find a Grave|128430903}}
{{Portal bar|Biography||Politics|Virginia}}
{{Members of the Virginia House of Delegates for Shenandoah County}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pence, Otto V.}}
Category:Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Category:20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly