Special Note

     With great sadness I must tell the many fans and friends of Raffaele Valentino that he succumbed to cancer on Saturday September 26, 2009. His family, as always, was by his side. The passing was peaceful.

     Raff, as all the people at WLIS/WMRD called him, was a devoted host of "The Sounds of Italy" for many years, first in New Haven and for the past dozen years in Middletown/Hartford and Old Saybrook through our Stations. With quiet dedication he brought to his audience the standards of Italian and Italian-American music, as well as the more contemporary songs, doing commentary in both English and Italian. Indeed his talent was such that he often started a description in one language and finished it in the other. Raff's audience was devoted to him. He heard from them in Springfield, Hartford, the Shore and all places in between; he always announced their birthdays, their anniversaries, their causes and their dreams.. 

      Each of us has a special, personal memory of Raff. Mine recalls the Festival of Saint Sebastian in Middletown from which he and I broadcast on many occasions.  In his early days with us he had said to me more than once that he felt a little distant from the city's Italian-American population because he was not of Sicialian heritage, rather from Puglianello on the mainland. The locals heard the difference in his accent and his colloquialisms. But, at one Festival years ago, I asked him to interview several of the City's public officials, all of Sicicilian heritage. That day, within minutes, he and they were communicating fully. Thereafter he had a love for the local Sicilian people who are the devotees of the Festival, the more so because it took so long for them and him to be certain of each other, regionalism being so strongly held among Italians. Indeed each year when May approached, the Festival Committee would ask us, "Is Raff coming?"

     For me he will always be there, on the Rectory porch, microphone in hand, entertaining the people, over the loud speakers and the Radio, playing the music he loved so much.

Rest in Peace, my Dear Friend.

Don DeCesare

General Manager

WLIS/WMRD

Below, as a courtesy for those who did not see it as published, is the obituary.

 From The New Haven Register, September 28, 2009:

VALENTINO RAFFAELE L. Raffaele Luigi Valentino 63 of 360 Sterling Place Hamden passed away peacefully Saturday September 26 2009 at Yale-New Haven Hospital surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband of Giuseppina Mongillo Valentino. Ralph was born in Puglianello Province of Benevento Italy on September 5 1946; loving son of the late Vincenzo and Celeste R. DiMaggio Valentino. Ralph had worked for Safety Car from 1966 to 1988 and at the time of his passing was working as an Electric Winder for Schultz Electric. A noted D.J. Ralph started Valentino Productions working along with his son Vincenzo and later passing it on to his son. A noted Italian Radio Personality; in 1969 Ralph started the WNHU Radio Program "Sounds of Italy"and throughout his life was very active with many ItalianAmerican Organizations always trying to keep the Italian community alive throughout Connecticut. A true family man gentleman and friend; he will be greatly missed. Beloved father of Raffaele V. (Carmela) Valentino of Hamden and Vincenzo (Lena) Valentino of North Branford. Loving brother of Antonio (Carmel) Valentino of Hamden. Loving and devoted nonno of Alessia Raffaele D. and Domenico M. Valentino. Beloved uncle of Celeste and Enzo Valentino. Loving great-uncle of Anthony and Nicholas Migliozzi. His Funeral Procession will leave the North Haven Funeral Home 36 Washington Ave. Wednesday morning at 9:15. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St. Anthony's Church New Haven at 10:00. Entombment will follow in the St. Lawrence Mausoleum. The visiting hours will be Tuesday from 4 to 8 pm. Should friends desire memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society 538 Preston Ave. Meriden CT 06450.