Anthony Joseph “A.J.” Valle, 41, who worked in the Diocese of Camden since 1983, died suddenly on Sunday, March 6, at his home in New Castle, Del.
Steve Traenkner, a friend of Valle’s since 2001, worked with him for seven years at the St. Pius X Spiritual Life Center in Blackwood, and remembered “a quiet, good friend who was always working. He taught me a lot.”
Maria Nieves, security guard at the Camden Diocese’s Pastoral Center in Camden, recalled a “wonderful, kind person. He would always help when someone needed him. He never said no.”
In 2008, Mr. Valle was honored for his 25 years of service to St. Pius X, where he started working when he was 14. In June 2010, he became facilities manager at the Pastoral Center, a position he held until his death.
“A.J. was always available, with a ready smile, to help in any and all situations,” said Sister Roseann Quinn, of the St. Pius X Spiritual Life Center. “Nothing was too much, or too small for him.”
Mr. Valle is survived by his wife, Sherri Lynn (nee Shahadi); his parents, Anthony and Claire Valle (nee Picknally); his sisters, MaryElizabeth Valle (Dan Amabile) and Barbara (Daniel) Hauber; his brothers, Michael and Daniel Valle; his nieces, Jessica and Grace; and his nephew, D.J.
A funeral Mass was celebrated on Saturday, March 12, by Bishop Joseph A. Galante, at St. Pius X Retreat House in Blackwood. Interment was at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Blackwood.