Remembering Hartsdale’s Lorraine Valentini
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- July
- 2
The cycling community lost avid cyclist Lorraine Valentini Tuesday. David Wilson, President of the Westchester Cycle Club announced in an email to the membership.
Valentini, of Hartsdale, was a longtime club member and board member who broke her neck and was paralyzed in a cycling accident on Route 22 just north of Rye Lake Bridge on Memorial Day, 2005. She taught English for 33 years in New York City schools and was also a volunteer firefighter.
Friends and family set up “Team Lorraine” and raised money to help pay for 24-hour companion care, which was not covered by medical insurance. They held many fundraisers and had a table at the Golden Apple ride for donations. Those who donated placed a green ribbon on their helmets. Team Lorraine member Jane Shakman of Ossining said in December of 2005, “She always put herself last, so here’s our time to help her,” “She was incredibly athletic. She was moving night and day. It’s so sad to see her trapped.”
In the photos Lorraine’s husband, Chris Reyling hands out green ribbons at the 2005 Golden Apple ride.
15 members of Team Lorraine rode from Hartsdale to Washington DC in August of 2006 to raise support for stem cell research and to raise funds for her care.
Wilson had this to say about Valentini. “I remember riding with Lorraine and the A riders many years ago. She liked to be the first one up the hill. She’d power past us, sweat dripping from her brow, a look of pure determination on a face that would break into an impish grin when she glanced over her shoulder at the top. There were also the days we’d try to catch her and her longtime partner, Chris Reyling, as they cruised on their tandem, following them as they got up out of their saddles on the hills, and then trying to hang on their wheel after we reached the crest and flew down on the descent.”
A wake will be held July 9th beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Bizub-Parker Funeral Home, 47 Main Street, Little Falls, NJ. A funeral mass will be held the following day, Friday, July 10th, at 10:00 a.m. at Our Lady of the Holy Angels Church, 465 Main Street, Little Falls, NJ.
Donations in Lorraines memory can be made to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Foundation: Reeve Foundation, 636 Morris Turnpike, Suite 3A, Short Hills, NJ 07078 or through their Web site: www.christopherreeve.org
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm by Randall Wolf. 
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