Valentine Appel : Obituary

Valentine Appel of Big Canoe in Jasper, Georgia, and former long time resident of New York, died Saturday morning, April 12, 2014.Val died at home at the age of 88 after a lengthy struggle with heart disease.

Val was born on February 13, 1926 in the Bronx, New York. He was the only child of Valentine Appel Sr. and Adolfine Pelzl-Appel. His parents were of German descent, which allowed Valentine to become fluent in the German language as a child. Valentine grew up in the Bronx and he learned alpine skiing in Van Cortland Park. His ability to ski and his command of the German language served him well while fighting the Germans as an infantryman in Northern Italy during World War II with the US Army 10th Mountain Division.

Valentine was wounded twice during World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster for gallantry during combat action in the North Apennines Po Valley in Italy. He took part in the liberation of Florence, Italy from the Germans,

Following his honorable discharge from the US Army after World War II, Valentine went onto college and graduate school under the GI Bill, earning a Ph. D in Industrial Psychology from New York University.

Val had a long and distinguished career in the media and market research industry, working for Benton & Bowles, Ford Motor Company and Ted Bates. Valentine was involved in advertising from the very infancy of television and media research. He conducted extensive research studies on viewer ad recognition recall of TV commercials. Those standards of effective advertising frequency are used by the media industry today. During the course of his career, Valentine formed his own company, AHF Marketing Research, which he later sold to Columbia Pictures. The media research company that he founded is still in business. For a number of years, Val served as President of the Advertising Research Foundation. He also worked for Simmons Market Research Bureau, conducting syndicated and proprietary media and market research studies for the magazine industry.

At the end of his career, Valentine started Appel Advertising Research whose primary clients included the Wall Street Journal and National Enquirer.

Just days before his death, Valentine celebrated the birth of his first great grandchild, Ian Valentine Wilson and his 63rd wedding anniversary with his wife Patricia.

Valentine is survived by his wife Patricia Fisher Appel, daughters, Suzanne Appel Wilson, Jasper, Georgia, Marguerite Appel Gardner, Weaverville, North Carolina, sons Gregory V. Appel, Port Jervis, New York and William Appel, Woodstock, Georgia, plus 4 grandsons and one great grandson.

Funeral Services will take place on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 10:00 AM at Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church. Interment will follow in the Big Canoe Cemetery with Military Honors.

Roper Funeral Home and Crematory in Jasper, GA are in charge of the arrangements.

Online condolences can be made at www.roperfuneralhome.com