| NOVEMBER 11, 2010 -- Lifelong resident Anthony Valentino Sr. was a hardworking farmer, but he never let that stop him from spending time with others.
“He had amazing strength, and was working well into his 70s,” said a son, Anthony Valentino Jr. of Guilford. “I would work with him side by side, and I couldn’t do what he did. But he also enjoyed getting out and was generous to his friends.”
Valentino “raised me and my sister from the time I was 11, and was like our father,” said a granddaughter, Michelle Maldonado of North Haven. “He always put himself to the side, and was a very warm man who loved being surrounded by his grandchildren.”
Valentino died Oct. 5 at age 84.
Born May 7, 1926, in North Haven, a son of Charles and Maria Valentino, he attended North Haven High School and owned and operated Valentino’s Farm for 60 years.
A parishioner of St. Theresa’s Church, he was a member of its men’s club, the Knights of Columbus, the North Haven Grange and the Connecticut Farm Bureau.
In his spare time, Valentino liked to play cards, read, do word search puzzles, walk and play bocce. He was a fan of the Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys and University of Connecticut women’s basketball team.
Family vacations included trips to Florida, and Valentino and his wife of 64 years, Amelia, also visited Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Aruba, Hawaii, California, Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Las Vegas and Arizona.
One of six children, he “was always doing for others,” said a sister, Mary Landino of North Haven. “If you had a problem, you could always go to him.”
A niece, Angela Donnelly of North Branford, said as a youngster, she spent summers on her uncle’s farm. “My Uncle Tony‘s door was always open to all of us,” she said. “He was a very kind man.”
Valentino also leaves a second son, Charles Valentino; daughters MaryAnn Prisley and Rosemarie Calamita; eight other grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. |
