Henry Pinter

Henry (Hank) Pinter passed peacefully from this life on June 2, 2017, in his 99th year. Born on June 29, 1918 in Morrilton, Arkansas to Peter and Anna Pinter, a middle child in a family of 10 children, he spent his childhood on the family farm. Following high school, he worked for Douglas Aircraft until he was drafted into the Army during WWII. While serving in New York he met his future wife, Dorothy McGuire. Following the war, he graduated from UC Santa Barbara. He and Dorothy married in 1950 and they relocated to Northern California. He taught school in Dixon, then American Canyon, and later in Napa. In Napa at Redwood Junior High he taught 9th grade English, Journalism, and was Yearbook Advisor and photographer. He moved to Napa High with the 9th grade. He began walking to work around 1970 and continued through retirement. He continued the habit of daily long walks well into his nineties.

He was proud to be a founding member of St. Apollinaris Catholic Church. Henry was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Dorothy. He is survived by his children, Nancy Moore (Ralph), Margaret Pinter (Peter Athanas), John Pinter, and Victoria Kleine (Peter), and grandchildren Kate Moore, Steven Moore, and Diana Pinter. Henry’s varied interests included many summers of travel to National Parks and historic sites throughout the US with his family, backpacking with friends in the Sierras, cultivating roses with the Napa Rose Society, subscriptions to Berkeley Rep and ACT theaters, as well as the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, and political action with the Napa Democratic Caucus and California Teachers Association. He was proudly independent, maintaining his garden and fruit trees, his house, and his cars over the years. He taught us to appreciate nature, to nurture growing things, to take pride in fixing things ourselves, and to effect change through action.

A Memorial Mass will be held in St. Apollinaris Catholic Church at 11:00 on Saturday, June 17. Private interment will follow at The Sacramento Valley National Cemetery at Dixon. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages you to donate to Napa Valley Retired Teachers Scholarship Fund. Checks can be made to the Solomon Scholarship Fund (Expendable), and sent to Community Foundation of the Napa Valley, 3299 Claremont Way, Suite 2, Napa, CA 94558.

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