Robert F. "Bob" Valentine CDR USN (Ret.)

VALENTINE, ROBERT "BOB" F., CDR USN (RET.), passed away on January 9, 2014. He will be sorely missed. Bob was born in 1926 in Columbus, OH, the son of Oscar and Agnes Valentine. In Columbus, Bob attended Central High School. He attended University of Virginia, and Ohio State University, graduating in 1948 from OSU and its Naval ROTC Program with a degree in Business Administration. Bob became a Naval Aviator, and loved to fly. He spent the next five years assigned to Fighter Squadron 173 flying the F4U Corsair fighter and the Douglas AD4 dive bomber off the decks of the carriers USS Wasp, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, USS Midway, and the USS Coral Sea. In 1955, Bob was ordered to Naval Station Great Lakes, IL, where he met his future wife, Wilma C. Garcie. Throughout his Navy career Bob served in a number of different aviation roles including Catapult Officer on the USS Lexington, and Assistant Air Officer on the USS Yorktown, during combat operations in Vietnam. Bob retired in 1969 with the rank of Commander. His naval service was a great source of pride to Bob and his family.

After his Navy career, Bob and his family moved to Arlington, Texas where he worked in a number of civilian positions, earning a Masters of Business Administration from Texas Christian University along the way. In 1990 he retired from the Arlington Independent School District as a Contract Administrator. Bob and Wilma moved to Louisville in 2005, and most recently celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary here. Bob was an avid reader, but his favorite hobby was genealogy thru which he traced his ancestors to the American Colonial period and beyond. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Military Officers Association of America, and the Louisville Genealogy Society.

Bob is survived by his wife Wilma, formerly of Zwolle, LA; his son Alan Valentine, MD of Houston, TX; son John Valentine, MD of Salt Lake City, UT; daughter Diane Cook of Anchorage, KY; daughter Sharon Lovejoy of Kailua, HI; daughter Linda Salomon of Austin, TX; and 11 grandchildren. Other survivors include his sister Lois Hildebrand of Columbus, OH, a niece and nephew, and several cousins.

A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Saint Patrick Catholic Church, 1000 N Beckley Station Rd., Louisville, with burial to follow at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be sent to Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Louisville.