Blanquita Valenti, trailblazing Latina politician in Middlesex County, dies at 87
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Blanquita B. Valenti, the former Middlesex County freeholder and New Brunswick councilwoman who was the first Latina to serve in those positions, died Tuesday at home. She was 87.
Valenti’s death comes more than a year after her term on the freeholder board ended on Dec. 31, 2019. She served as freeholder since 2005 and in early in 2019 announced she would not seek reelection.
The term freeholder was discontinued this year and replaced with the title of commissioner.
Valenti’s funeral is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. Saturday at Selover Funeral Home, 555 Georges Road, North Brunswick, followed by a 9 a.m. Mass at St. Mary of Mount Virgin Church in New Brunswick. Entombment will follow at St. Peter s Cemetery in New Brunswick, according to her obituary.
Middlesex County mourns loss of Freeholder Valenti, a trailblazer for Latinx in politics ×
Messages of support are pouring in for the family of Blanquita (Bird) Valenti, a longtime Middlesex County Freeholder and New Brunswick City Councilmember.
“It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of a colleague and friend, former Freeholder Blanquita Valenti. Blanquita was an inspiration across the county, particularly for those in the minority community, as she not only shattered convention by becoming the first Latina to win a countywide election in Middlesex County, but she founded one of the county’s most active human services organizations, the Puerto Rican Action Board (PRAB). A mother and grandmother, Blanquita’s love for the youngest in our community was reflected in her career, spending almost four decades as an educator in both high school and university settings,” the Middlesex County Board of Commissioners, which was previously named the Middlese