By CHUCK O DONNELL
March 10, 2021 at 1:20 PM
Blanquita Valenti, a member of the New Brunswick City Council for 20 years before serving as a Middlesex County freeholder for 15 years, has died at 87.
Blanquita Valenti, a member of the New Brunswick City Council for 20 years before serving as a .
Credits: TAPinto File Photo
March 10, 2021 at 1:20 PM
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Blanquita Valenti, a member of the New Brunswick City Council for 20 years before serving as a Middlesex County freeholder for 15 years, died Tuesday evening.
Valenti, described by friends and political allies as an energetic spitfire and an empathetic soul, established many firsts in the political arena, not the least of which came in 2004 when she became the first Latina to win a countywide election when she was voted to the Middlesex County Board of Freeholders.
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.