Sam J Valenti III

Sam J. Valenti III passed away peacefully on July 15, 2015. He was born on July 30, 1936 and was the eldest child of Mary and Sam J Valenti Jr. He was preceded in death by his parents. Sam is survived by his loving wife of fifty seven years, Josephine, his sons, Steve and wife Julie, John and wife, Kathy, Sammy, and daughter, Mary Jo. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Rachel Valenti, Jason Davis and wife Kyra, Kendall Valenti, Gina Valenti, Lauren Davis, Michael Valenti, and Kristen Davis. In addition, he is survived by his siblings, Mary Klohn, Gloria Norman, Paul Valenti, and Phillip Valenti and wife, Lori.

Sam attended St. Joseph and St. Theresa elementary schools. He graduated from St. Thomas High School in 1954 and received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Houston in 1959. While a student at the University of Houston, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity and the Chemistry Club.

Sam worked in the Physics Dept. at MD Anderson hospital for a couple of years. He was employed at Celanese Plastics Co. in 1961. This division of Celanese was later changed to Solvay America, and Sam continued to work there until his retirement later in 2001. He held many positions including Chief Chemist, Quality Control Manager, Environmental Supervisor, and Regulatory Coordinator. While working at Solvay, Sam and Josephine were able to take some wonderful trips by extending business trips into vacation trips. The most memorable was their trip to Paris and Rome.

Sam was a faithful member of his parish, St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church. He enjoyed being with friends and was a member of the Sacred Heart Society and the Solvay Annuitants. He was known as a great poker player with friends and family and won “most of the time”.

Visitation with the family will be from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, July 17th at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home with recitation of the Holy Rosary at 7:00 p.m. The funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, 11011 Hall Rd. at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 18th.

Honored to serve as pall bearers are Jason Davis, Michael Valenti, Alden Speer, Scott Klohn, Joe Michael Carrabba, Larry Sanders, Joe Matranga, and Phillip Waterwall.

The family is appreciative of the compassionate care given by the nurses, Mary Watson and Harriet Campbell.