James R. Pegoraro, 79 a longtime Mentor resident, passed away April 22, 2019 at his home with his family by his side. He was born July 3, 1939 in Hermansville, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Jim's parents were Ruby M. Machalk and Rudolph J. Pegoraro. He had an older brother, Rudy Jr., that he always called Bud, who was his inspiration and motivation. Jim's family moved to Euclid in 1943 and he attended Roosevelt Elementary School, Euclid Central Junior High and Euclid Senior High School, where he graduated from in 1957. He attended Ohio University, Fenn College (CSU), and Lakeland Community College. Jim met and married the most beautiful girl in the city, Patricia J. Rafter, in 1961 and they moved to Mentor in 1964. Jim had four mostly great children, Jim Jr. (Susie), Thomas (Carole), Vickie (Martin) LaMalfa and Mike. He had nine almost always fabulous grandchildren, Ryan, Kaili, Arianna, Gianna and Michael Pegoraro, Francesca and Dominic LaMalfa, and Hannah and Kourtney Syrus. They are all great kids and have given Pat and I pleasure. Jim is also survived by several nephews he was especially close to, Bud's sons, Rob (Katie), John (Kerry), and Pat's nephew, David Hamilton. He also has numerous cousins that have drifted as their families grew, however he remained close to his cousin, Jack (Roseann) Flowers, who if we were all like them what a wonderful world this would be. Jim would tell his family that he wished he would have taken more time to maintain contact with all the others whom have scattered throughout the country. Jim had several jobs over the years, starting at Frank A. Thomas and Associates, Inc., Keuffler and Esser (K & E), Debevec Salo and Assoc., Land Design Consultants, On-Site Consultants, Colpetzer Woods, LDC, Inc., Jamesway Development, Inc. and Auburn Quail, Inc. He was also involved with Mentor South Baseball and Mentor Bantam Football League for kids. With the City of Mentor, he served on several boards and commissions and represented the City on the Board of Health for almost 25 years serving as President for 12 of those years. During his time on the board, they established the Around the Clock Home Care, Health Care Lake County and the Lake County Drug Repository, all of which have served the residents of Lake County very well. Jim was appointed to the Lake County Planning Commission as an alternate to Commissioner Dan Troy and served for 4 years. He also assisted Laketran in their annual golf outing, and they were kind enough to name him Citizen of the Year in 2012. The family will receive friends from 2-6 p.m. Sunday, April 28, 2019 at the Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 8466 Mentor Ave., Mentor, OH 44060. A funeral service in memory of Jim will be held 10 a.m. Monday, April 29, 2019 at the funeral home. Private family inurnment will be held at Mentor Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Hospice of the Western Reserve, P.O. Box 72101, Cleveland, OH 44192, donate online at www.hospicewr.org . Please offer condolences at www.brunners.com . Sympathy Store