Carlos VALIENTE

VALIENTE, Carlos Sr. 88, died peacefully at home surrounded by his loved ones on April 2, 2022. Every great love starts with a great story and it began in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, where Carlos was born and raised. At the age of twenty, he met Daisy, the love of his life, at a dance hall on Easter Sunday. They courted for a month before realizing they couldn't imagine life without each other and were married three years later. After the birth of their two sons, they made the difficult decision to leave their homeland. They traveled to Spain where they lived for one year before making their permanent residence in Tampa, Florida, in February 1968. Carlos was employed at Sun Trust Bank for thirty-four years before retiring as a Senior Vice President of International Banking. Throughout his life, he was a proud, self-proclaimed historian, a passionate reader of non-fiction works, and a HAM radio operator. He was an avid traveler and was blessed to share many adventures with his wife around the world. Post-retirement, he enjoyed blogging about various topics like food, weather, entertainment news, current events, and historical personal stories about Cuba. He was a proud American who loved this country and strongly believed in the pursuit of Freedom. Carlos' deep commitment to faith was evident in the way he lived his life. He was a man of great courage, integrity, but who was also kind, loyal, and loving to all who knew him. Carlos was preceded in death by his parents, Belarmino Valiente Montes de Oca and Irma Romero Cruz; brother, Guido Valiente Romero. He is survived by his children, Carlos Valiente Jr. (Barbara) and Jorge Valiente (Beverly); grandchildren, Vanessa Valiente and Christiaani Valiente (Sarah); great-grandchild, Elijah Valiente. A funeral service will be held at 2 pm on Sunday, April 10, 2022 at Garden of Memories Cemetery, 4207 E. Lake Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33610 with entombment to follow at 3 pm. The family will receive friends between 1-2 pm.