A father, husband, and passionate English teacher at Rio Americano High School, Matthew Valencich died suddenly in June at his second home in Ashland, Oregon, leaving behind his extraordinary life and many people whose lives he touched. He was 59.
Among his students he was known to have a fun sense of humour, a whimsical approach to teaching and a commitment to his students and love for the literature he taught. “Actually, the best English teacher I’ve ever had,” said Evelyn Padilla (2024). “I aspire to have the same level of whimsy he brought to everything.”
Like many other English teachers, he incorporated performances of plays that were read in class, but Mr. Valencich’s own background in theatre made his classes especially engaging. In recent years, students had adopted scenes from the British novel, “Girl, Woman, Other,” and for classics like “Crime and Punishment,” he had students create a St. Petersburg newspaper.
“He was very devoted to his students and he loved taking new approaches to classic works,” said fellow English teacher Michael Mahoney. A Sacramento native, he lived in London as a preteen and teenager, attending the American School in London, because his mother had married a stage actor who was part of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
As a result, he developed a deep passion for literature and Shakespeare. His wife of 25 years, Rene Worley, a ceramics teacher at Rio, recalled his early love of literature and theater.
“He grew up in a very literate world and then went to this great school,” said his wife Ms. Worley. “Dove into some really incredible literature–Russian, British, American.”
Mr. Valencich went on to attend Pomona College in Claremont, where he majored in history.
During his early years, he traveled extensively. He spent two summers in Ecuador studying Spanish and climbed Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
He took his first job after college as an English teacher in Kyoto, Japan, and returned two years ago for a family vacation. Having enjoyed teaching abroad, he decided to continue in the classroom. He taught in Davis for 10 years, followed by San Juan High School, before arriving at Rio Americano in 2007.
He and Ms. Worley met at an April Fools party that she hosted in 2000. But he wasn’t kidding, two weeks later they were engaged. Six months later, on Oct. 1, they were married.
Three years after that their only child, Lillian, was born. (Lilly attended Rio and is now a PhD student in political science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.)
“He was my best friend and we’re very compatible,” said Ms. Worley.
She described her husband as “very smart” but also “super goofy.”
“A lot of people were intimidated by him,” she said. “But my daughter, Lilly and I, we really saw his super funny, super goofy side. He was a really cool guy.”
Teaching, his love for literature, and his roots in theatre never left him. While he mostly taught senior English classes, he reached out to more students through his founding of the Shakespeare club at Rio. Each year the club attended the Shakespeare festival in Ashland, Oregon.
He began a “a love affair with the town of Ashland” when he lived in Seattle and would stop there on visits to family in Sacramento, Ms. Worley said. He began taking students there while teaching in Davis and made it an annual event at Rio.
His last trip was in May, when he took over a dozen students, along with chaperones, to see five plays over Memorial Day weekend. He and Ms. Worley bought a house in the town near the theaters–and pickleball courts. They taught from the house during the pandemic and planned to retire there at the end of the school year.
Mr. Valencich is survived by his widow, Rene Worley, his daughter Lilly of Amherst, Mass.; and his brother Ben Marcel of Los Angeles. He was preceded in death by his mother, Judi Marcel and father, Albert Valencich.
Principal Cliff Kelly is working with Ms. Worley on plans to plant a memorial ginkgo tree and place a bench on campus in Mr. Valencich’s honor.A Celebration of Life for Mr. Valencich will be held Saturday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. in Rio’s performing arts theater.
The event will feature food, live music performed by current and former music students, and an opportunity to connect with many individuals who have been influenced by Mr. Valencich over the years.
