Blanquita Valenti

Blanquita Valenti
BornDecember 28, 1933
Santurce, Puerto Rico
Died (aged 87)
New Brunswick, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPolitician

Blanquita Bird Valenti (December 28, 1933 – March 9, 2021) was an American politician from New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Biography

Bird graduated from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Connecticut and Rosemont College, Pennsylvania.[1] In 1956, she married Thomas Valenti.[2] Mrs. Valenti also earned a master's degree in teaching from Seton Hall University, and in Spanish and Latin American literature from Rutgers University. In 1971, she was appointed to the New Brunswick Board of Education, the first Latina in the state to serve in such a role.[3]

In 1990, she was appointed to the New Brunswick City Council to fill a vacancy, subsequently being re-elected five times, including holding the office of Council President and vice-president.[4] In 2004, Valenti was elected to the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders (now Commissioners), serving five terms until her retirement in 2019.[4]

She was honored for her works at her 15th anniversary.[5] Valenti was the first Latina to serve in those two positions.[6][7][8][9][10] After announcing her retirement,[11] she retired in 2019.[12]

Valenti died on March 9, 2021, at age 87. Politicians from the senate expressed their condolences. She was buried at St. Peter's Cemetery in New Brunswick.[6][7][8][9][10][13][14][15][16][17]

On September 8, a school was opened for students named after Blanquita in New Brunswick, New Jersey possessing the mascot of a Blue jay[18]

References

  1. ^ "Valenti-Bird Wedding Held". The Central New Jersey Home News. August 12, 1956. Retrieved March 26, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "BLANQUITA BIRD TO WED; She Will Be Married Saturday to Carl Thomas Valenti". The New York Times. August 8, 1956. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  3. ^ Listokin, David; Berkhout, Dorothea; Hughes, James W. (2016). New Brunswick, New Jersey: The Decline and Revitalization of Urban America. Rutgers University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-8135-7558-2.
  4. ^ a b "City Remembers Longtime Public Servant Blanquita Valenti". www.cityofnewbrunswick.org. March 11, 2021. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  5. ^ "Freeholder Valenti Honored For Decades of Public Service". TAPinto.
  6. ^ a b "Blanquita Valenti, trailblazing Middlesex freeholder, dies at 87". New Jersey Globe. March 10, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Blanquita Valenti, Trailblazing New Brunswick, Middlesex County Politician, Dead at 87". TAPinto.
  8. ^ a b "Blanquita Valenti through the years: Trailblazing politician left indelible mark". www.mycentraljersey.com.
  9. ^ a b Russell, Suzanne. "Blanquita Valenti, trailblazing Latina politician in Middlesex County, dies at 87". MyCentralJersey.com.
  10. ^ a b "PRAB Mourns the Loss of our founder, Blanquita B. Valenti – PRAB".
  11. ^ "Middlesex County Freeholder Valenti to retire at end of term". Courier News and Home News Tribune.
  12. ^ "Freeholder Blanquita B. Valenti Announces Intention to Retire at End of Term". www.middlesexcountynj.gov.
  13. ^ "Blanquita Valenti, trailblazing Latina politician in Middlesex County, dies at 87". MyCentralJersey.com.
  14. ^ "Lopez Statement on the Passing of Middlesex County Freeholder Blanquita Valenti". Insider NJ. March 10, 2021.
  15. ^ Amato, Jennifer; Editor, Managing (March 10, 2021). "Middlesex County mourns loss of Freeholder Valenti, a trailblazer for Latinx in politics". {{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ "Blanquita Valenti, trailblazing Middlesex freeholder, dies at 87 - Opera News". www.dailyadvent.com.
  17. ^ "Menendez Statement on the Passing of Former Middlesex Freeholder Blanquita Valenti | U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey". www.menendez.senate.gov.
  18. ^ "Welcome to City of New Brunswick, New Jersey". www.cityofnewbrunswick.org. Retrieved February 12, 2024.