MASSILLON —

A 21-year-old Perry Township man died from injuries suffered when the car he was driving crashed near Federal Avenue and Tommy Henrich Drive NW.

Andrew B. Valentine was discovered at 7:16 a.m. Tuesday by construction workers inside the crashed Mitsubishi Lancer he had been driving. It is not certain when the crash occurred.

“He died instantly from massive injuries to his head, chest and extremities,” said Harry Campbell, chief investigator on the Stark County coroner’s staff. “He is active duty U.S. Army. The family said he just got back from Egypt.”

The public affairs division of the Army’s Cleveland Recruiting Battalion was not prepared to confirm Tuesday if Valentine was an active duty soldier. Valentine’s local address is in the 2600 block of Carmont Avenue SW.

Valentine, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol, was driving west on Federal Avenue NW at a high rate of speed when he approached Tommy Henrich Drive. He lost control, crossed Tommy Henrich Drive, hit a curve and then part of the city-owned storm-water pumping station.

The car came to rest on a culvert, making it difficult to see from the road.

“At this point we don’t have witnesses to the crash,” said. E.R. Sheppard of the Ohio Highway Patrol. “We are trying to determine about what time the crash occurred.”

MASSILLON, OH —

A cloud of sadness hangs over the southwest Massillon neighborhood where Andrew B. Valentine grew up.
The family, friends and neighbors who for the past week had been celebrating the soldier’s safe return from overseas were overcome with grief after learning of his death in a car crash early Tuesday morning in downtown Massillon.
Valentine, 21, a soldier with the U.S. Army National Guard’s 1-145th Regiment, was deployed with his cousin, John Flesher, to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt last year. Valentine arrived home last Wednesday.
Flesher returned the week before.
A graduate of Tuslaw High School and R.G. Drage Career and Technical Center, Valentine was a tanker with the Charlie Company, and his cousin was a member of the Ecko Company. The cousins saw each other frequently and were reminders of what they longed for the most – to be home with their families.
“I actually saw him on Sunday and he gave me a big, ol’ hug,” said Valentine’s aunt and Flesher’s mom, Melody Carpenter, as her voice cracked with emotion. “He was a good kid, he got along with everybody. … We are all just going to miss him. He was loved. We couldn’t wait for him to come home.”
Monday night, Valentine and a group of friends were going out bowling.
He called close friend and neighbor Talena Grosswiler to invite her along. She couldn’t make it.
“He asked Talena to go bowling, but Brayden (Grosswiler’s 1-year-old son) was being fussy so she decided to stay home,” said Grosswiler’s mother, Debby Boswell.
A receipt found on Valentine Tuesday morning indicates he bought food at a local restaurant at 2:55 a.m.
At 3:17 a.m., he sent a text message to Grosswiler.
“He texted that he loved Brayden,” Boswell said.
At 7:16 a.m., the 2005 Mitsubishi that Valentine was driving was discovered by workers reporting to a pump station at the scene of the crash, just west of Towne Plaza off of Federal Avenue. Valentine was dead.
It’s unclear when the accident took place.
Boswell said her daughter took the news hard.
“She believes that if she had just gone out with him, he would still be alive,” Boswell said. “I told her that if she had, Brayden might not have a mother.”
Valentine and Grosswiler grew up just four houses down from each other. They attended Tuslaw High School together and have always been close friends – like family really. Boswell worked for years with Valentine’s mother, Robin Courtney, at Rose Lane Health Center. Valentine was the youngest of four children.
“(Andrew and Talena) were always there for each other. Always,” Boswell said. “And he just loved my grandson. (Andrew) was like family.
“He was an awesome friend to my daughter. He helped her move on Thursday. He was just an awesome person.”
Boswell said she hopes Andrew’s remembered for the great person and friend he was, and for his service to his country in the Guard.
“For this to happen to him, not even a week back from overseas … I just can’t believe this,” Boswell said. “I just talked to him (Monday).”
Grosswiler’s husband is also in the service. He left for Afghanistan in January and is due back at the first of the year.