John J. Valentine

John J. Valentine, 92, passed away on August 9, 2016.

Relatives and friends are invited for visiting hours on Thursday from 4 to 8 PM at Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home at 145 East Mount Pleasant Avenue Livingston, NJ. Prayer Service will be offered on Friday August 12, 2016 at 10:30 AM. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery East Hanover, NJ.

He was born in New York City and served in the Army in World War II as a T-5 Corporal Technician in the European Theater, mainly in Holland with the 204th Infantry (Timberwolf) Division, where he received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Services Stars, Combat Infantryman Badge, American Service Medal and Army of Occupation Medal with German Clasp.

After the war he attended Pace University and worked at Chubb & Sons, Inc. in their Finance Department. In 1957, he moved to Livingston, NJ where he raised his children with the mother of their children, Tina Valentine. He was a member of Livingston Auxiliary Police Department, Knights of Columbus Council in Livingston and Livingston VFW. He was a music enthusiast, saw Sinatra at the Paramount and even was the Garden State Distributor of the DiscoScene magazine, a forerunner to Rolling Stone.

He moved to Roseland, NJ in 1979 where he was President of Valentine Associates as a successful commercial realtor and a former Board of Director member of Stonegate of Roseland. He was the former commander of the Roseland Military Order of the Purple Heart and would visit veterans at local Nursing Homes. He was honored in 2009 as the Senior Citizen of the Year in Roseland.

Surviving are his son sons, Ron Valentine, his wife Betsy (Kostibos) and their children Craig and Jenna, Mark Valentine, his children Jonathan and Alexia, wife Sonia (children Andrea, Alyssa), Tina Valentine, sister Lucille Cestaro and his longtime partner, Rose Brady and her family.