Judge William Harvey Wiest, photo courtesy The Daily Item
SUNBURY — The Valley is mourning the loss of one of it’s most revered Judges. An outpouring of emotion can be felt throughout The Valley as the death of Judge William Harvey Wiest continues to set in. A memorial service and celebration of Judge Wiest’s life will be held on Saturday June 3, at 12pm.
In a conversation with WKOK over the weekend, Tom Boop, a personal friend and an attorney that worked with Judge Wiest said that he really enjoyed the work and really wanted to help people, “He enjoyed the work, the interaction with people. He thought he could help people, particularly young people. He really was not anxious to leave the bench when he had to, with the retirement age, before the law changed.”
Judge Wiest died on Saturday morning at 3am from injuries he suffered from a fall at his home on Wednesday of last week. He was 71 years old. You can find a complete copy of the obituary of Judge William Harvey Wiest at WKOK.com. (Christopher Elio)
William Harvey “Bill” Wiest, currently of rural Sunbury, but a resident of Dalmatia most of his life, passed away at Geisinger Medical Center on Saturday May 26, 2017, as a result of injuries received in an accidental fall at his home on Wednesday May 23, 2017.
Bill was born on July 8, 1945, in Dalmatia, to the late Nelson E. and Elda I. Martz Wiest. He graduated from Mahanoy Joint High School in 1963, from Susquehanna University in 1967, and from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1971. Bill married Karen Machtley Wiest on December 27, 1969, and together they enjoyed 47 years of marriage. He was a practicing attorney in Sunbury from 1972 until 1998, when he was elected to serve as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Northumberland County. He loved his work, and his colleagues, but without doubt most special to him was his work with children of all ages.
Bill was a member of the Trinity U.C.C. Church of Dalmatia, the Pennsylvania Trial Judges Association, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Judges Association, Sons of the American Revolution, Pennsylvania German Society, F&AM, Harrisburg Consistory, Northumberland County Historical Society, Gratz Historical Society, Palatines to America, Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Mahanoy & Mahantango Historical and Preservation Society, Spreading Antlers, the Americus Hose Company, and previously served many years as an Odyssey of the Mind coach. He enjoyed first and foremost, his wife, children, and grandchildren, but he had a passion for his work, and also found time for genealogical and historical research, gardening, attendance at his children’s and now grandchildren’s myriad sporting events, and he truly loved his cats.
In addition to his wife, Karen Machtley Wiest, Bill is survived by his children and their spouses, son Joel M. Wiest and wife Stacie C. Wiest of rural Sunbury, daughter Rachel A. Wiest Benner and son-in-law Jason Benner of rural Sunbury, daughter Elisabeth (Betsy) Grimm and son-in-law Steve Grimm of rural Sunbury, son Chad A.Z. Wiest of Shamokin, and son Patrick Wiest and companion Michelle Bermeo Betancourt of Raleigh, North Carolina; and his grandchildren, Anna Maria Wiest, Lilia Dawn Wiest, Logan David Tobias Wiest, Maggie Asa Benner, Kaci Elisabeth Grimm, Peyton Elizabeth Wiest, and Jacob Luke Grimm. Also surviving Bill are one brother, Roger V. Wiest, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Ronald and Katie Machtley, Sue and Tom Carl, Melissa and Gerald Richardson, and Kenneth and Romaine Diable, nieces Roxanne Laudenslager, Jackie Lutz, Kimberly Fenton, Erin Machtley Clark, Stephanie Diable McChessney, Kirstin Carl Brown, and Lindgren Carl, and nephews Roger V. Wiest, II, Timothy Diable, and Todd Machtley.
In addition to his parents, Bill was predeceased by two sons, David Martz Wiest and Tobias Larson Wiest on March 22, 1998, by one brother, L. “Jack” Wiest, and by sister-in-law Adeline “Babe” Wiest.
A Memorial Service and Celebration of Bill’s Life will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday June 3, 2017 at Weber Chapel on the grounds of Susquehanna University. Light refreshments will follow on campus. A private burial service will be held at the discretion of the family with arrangements through the Farrow Funeral Home of Shamokin.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Bill’s memory be made to his revered and cherished church home the Trinity U.C.C. Church of Dalmatia, Pennsylvania, where he served as church organist for 57 years.
