Former United States Representative Itimous Thaddeus Valentine, Jr. - better known as Tim Valentine, was born in Nash County, North Carolina on March 15, 1926 to I.T. and Hazel Armstrong Valentine. He passed away on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at the age of 89.
Mr. Valentine was predeceased by his parents; sisters, Hazel Jessup, Betsy Fuller, Mary Hobbs McIntrye; and brother, James Valentine; and by his first wife, Betsy Carr Valentine, the mother of his four children.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara Reynolds Valentine, of the home; four children: Stephen M. Valentine and wife, Gina of Beaufort, NC; Mark L. Valentine and wife, Tonja of Wendell, NC; Philip C. Valentine and wife Susan of Nashville, TN; and Beth Valentine Dollar and husband, Steven of Wilson, NC; nine grandchildren: Matthew Valentine, Braxton Valentine, Spencer Valentine, Jackson Valentine, Carr Valentine, Campbell Valentine, Douglas Valentine, Harrison Dollar and Anna Dollar.
Surviving also are three stepchildren: Mark C. Berry of New Bern; Vaughn Berry-Daniel of Wilson; and Bryan E. Berry and wife, Lisa of Wilson; and five step-grandchildren: Ryan Berry, Adam Berry, Mary Rome Daniel, Miller Berry and Helen Berry; and step great-grandson, Mason Berry.
Mr. Valentine graduated from Nashville High School in 1943 and attended the Citadel, Charleston, SC until July 19, 1944 when he became a member of the U.S. Army Air Force. Part of this service was in the Philippine Islands shortly after the end of World War II. He was discharged on August 22, 1946 and returned to the Citadel as a veteran student and graduated in December, 1948 with an A.B. degree in political science. In 1952 he graduated from the Law School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After passing the Bar exam in 1952, he entered law practice with his father, I.T. Valentine, Sr., a former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice. After Valentine & Valentine, the firm became Valentine, Valentine and Adams with the addition of Franklin L. Adams, Jr. and later Valentine, Adams and Lamar, with L. Wardlaw Lamar.
In 1954, he was elected to the N.C. House of Representatives and served in the Session of 1955, the special Session of 1956 and the regular Session of 1957 and 1959. During the 1959 Session, he was Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary II. In 1965 he served as legal assistant on the staff of governor Dan K. Moore and as attorney for the North Carolina Railroad. During the General Assembly Session of 1967 he served as Governor Moore's legislative council.
Tim Valentine was elected State Chairman of the Democratic Party in 1966 and served in that capacity for two years. At the National Convention of the Democratic Party in Chicago in 1968 he delivered the nominating speech for Governor Moore's "favorite son" candidacy for President.
In 1982, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives from the State's Second District. There he served for twelve years (six terms). In Congress he was a member of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. For four years he was Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Technology and Competiveness.
Throughout a lifetime of public and professional service Tim Valentine served as Co-Chairperson of the Blue Ribbon Commission of Agricultural Waste, as a member of the North Carolina Courts Commission, the Committee on the Future of the Courts in North Carolina, the Board of Trustees of Nash General Hospital, and the Country Doctor Museum in Bailey, NC.
From 1994 to 2005 he served on the Board of Directors of the N.C. Biotechnology Center, part of that time on its Executive Committee and as Vice-chairman of the Board.
Tim Valentine was founding member and second President of "Save our State," an environmental protection organization, sponsored by the A. Smith Reynolds Foundation, which later became "Sustainable North Carolina." Tim Valentine was also a founding member and President of the Tar River Land Conservancy.
Tim Valentine was at one time a member of the American Bar Association, the N.C. Bar Association, the N.C Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Nash-Edgecombe Bar Association (past President) and the Nash-Wilson Edgecombe Bar Association.
He was a member and past President of the Rocky Mount Kiwanis Club and served on the original Board of Directors of First Carolina State Bank of Rocky Mount.
In the waning years of retirement, Tim Valentine served as a volunteer at Nash General Hospital and as an announcer at Down East Radio Reading Service, an all-volunteer service for the visually handicapped of the Nash, Wilson and Edgecombe Counties area. Valentine was honored by becoming a member of the Nash-Edgecombe Hall of Fame. In 2014, the Department of Transportation named a portion of Highway 64 for him.
A member of Lakeside Baptist Church, funeral services will be held Saturday, November 14th, in the sanctuary, 1501 Sunset Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC, at 2:00 p.m. The family will receive friends from 12:00 until 1:45 in the Suggs Parlor of the Church. They will also be at their home in Nashville from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 13.
Interment will be at Forest Hills Cemetery in Nashville following the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Lakeside Baptist Church, 1501 Sunset Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804; Rocky Mount Kiwanis Club Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 8799, Rocky Mount, NC 27804; Hazel A. Valentine Scholarship fund of the Business and Professional Women, c/o Mary Wells, 1924 Thomas A. Betts Parkway, Rocky Mount, NC 27804, or the charity of one's choice.