William Thomas Pedigo

A true Southern Gentleman left this earth with the passing of William Thomas Pedigo, of Roanoke on July 4, 2012. Raised in Vinton, the son of the late Eugene and May Atkins Pedigo, he was a friend to all and nothing was more important to him than his family and country. After graduating from William Byrd High School he immediately entered the U.S. Navy at the start of WWII, serving aboard the USS Engstrom as a Petty Officer/Sound, hunting German submarines in the Atlantic and Caribbean with the newly invented Sonar System. After receiving a medical discharge in 1943, he returned home and started Roanoke Glass Shop, a business he owned and operated in downtown Roanoke for 37 years. In 1954, after a whirlwind courtship, he married the love of his life, Jeanne Hann of Salem. He proposed the day after they met on a blind date and have been married 58 years. The parents of two daughters, Linda Jean Pedigo of Alexandria and JoAnn Pedigo Crouch of Salem, their time was spent raising their girls and building their home themselves. Bill said he never finished the house, even after all these years. His excuse was he had to take time out to help his girls build their own homes. After selling his business in 1981, he spent much of his time making beautiful golden oak furniture for his daughters, traveling the USA with his wife, and helping friends and neighbors. As much as he loved his wife and daughters, his real pride and joys were his grandson, Zachariah Crouch and granddaughter, Lindsay Crouch. When Zach joined the Marines, it meant that a family member had served in every war and police action in which the Nation had been involved since the ancestors arrival from France in the late 1600s. He always enjoyed family history, was proud of contributions by his family to the Valley, and took pride in the stories about one of his ancestors who was a spy for the Colonies. Bill loved sports, played football and basketball in high school and sponsored City Rec teams in Roanoke after he went into business. He coached some Little League Sports and helped build the first training sled used by the Cave Springs High School Football Program. He was a member of a refereeing team for high school football and basketball programs, primarily in the Virginia Highlands and for the military schools in the Shenandoah Valley. It was a family joke that you better talk to him before the pro football season started, as he was zoned out watching games on week-ends and wouldnt hear you. Both he and Jeanne were active in Republican politics in the Valley, serving for many years on the Roanoke County and Roanoke City Republican Committees and active in many campaigns over a 50 year period. Additional survivors include a sister, Jean P. Nelson of Springfield; a brother, Earl B. Pedigo of Roanoke; nieces Becky Nelson of Charles Town, WV and Susie Pedigo of Norfolk, and two nephews, William Nelson of Warrenton and Robert Pedigo of Richmond. A Celebration of Bills life will be held at 2PM, Saturday, July 7, 2012 in the Chapel of John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home. The family will receive friends following the service. An online guest book is available for family and friends by visiting www.johnmoakey.com.