Richard "John" Valerino

Richard “John” Valerino, who came to Lakeland in the fall of 1970 to attend Florida Southern College and make Polk County his home for more than a half-century, died Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023 at the age of 70, of a heart attack. Born May 26, 1952 in Bay Village, Ohio to the late Michael F. and Betty Wright Valerino, John spent a year in Oak Ridge, Tennessee where his nuclear physicist father worked prior to moving the young family to Florida.

While living in Clearwater, a young Valerino attended Skycrest Elementary and JFK Junior High School before the family moved to Windsor, Conn., his father taking a job with Combustion Engineering and where Valerino enjoyed his high school years.

A strong athlete, Valerino excelled in baseball and was a record-setting pitcher at Windsor High School where he graduated in 1970. Scouted during his senior year by a couple of Major League Baseball teams for their farm programs, Valerino developed tendonitis – ending MLB dreams but opening the world of print journalism – attending Florida Southern College in Lakeland, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1974.

It proved to be a good fit as Valerino spent his 30-plus-year professional career at The Ledger newspaper covering everything from Florida Southern athletics to the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. He covered the Sunshine State Conference's first-ever event as the Moccasins men's basketball team played at Eckerd in 1976. He covered five of Florida Southern's NCAA Division II Final Fours in men's basketball, including the 1981 national championship.

While in college, Valerino was editor of the FSC student newspaper, The Southern, during his senior year. He began his career at The Ledger in 1974 and in 1978 was promoted to sports editor. In 1984, he was promoted to executive sports editor and in 1988, he was given additional duties as Sports Coordinator for the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (comprising 32 papers). In that position, he was responsible for coordinating group coverage among participating papers at the Olympics, Super Bowls, Final Fours, NBA Finals, the World Series and several college football national championship bowl games.

Valerino received the FSC Communications Department's Hal Waters Alumnus of the Year award in 2009 and earned the Dick Goleno Award in 2003 for outstanding contributions to local sports coverage. He has authored two books on baseball – “Turning Two – Baseball’s Classic Keystone Combinations” and “Ted and Joe – Players Memories of Two Icons.” Both were added to the research library in Coopertown’s famed Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in New York. He was inducted into the FSC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

While at the helm of Ledger Sports, Valerino saw the birth of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Orlando Magic and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He spent several years covering the Red Sox spring training games in Winter Haven and was the writer covering eventual pro golfer Andy Bean at Walt Disney World when he earned his PGA Tour card. The Ledger staff won numerous state and national awards, including several awards for General Excellence of the sports section, during the period Valerino worked as executive sports editor.

He often told family and friends one of his fondest memories as a writer was covering Bobby Bowden's first four seasons as head football coach at Florida State University. “Prior to his first season in 1976, I met him and came away thinking that something special was about to happen to that football program. I saw the program go from 5-6 in 1976 to 11-0 in 1979,” he wrote in his farewell Ledger column in 2003 when he retired.

In retirement, he also enjoyed covering FSC basketball and local high school football. “Polk Countians have strong support for area youth sports programs that have resulted in producing amazing athletes in a number of sports – on the collegiate and professional level,” he once said.

Additionally, Valerino covered multiple sports throughout the Olympic Games in 1996 in Atlanta, 2000 in Sydney, Australia and 2002 in Salt Lake City. He also coordinated the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group’s coverage for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games with San Francisco Bay sports writer Bob Padecky via phone calls in the days before easier communication tools.

Married in October 1982 to the former Lorraine Bloeth of Winter Haven, the couple raised two daughters, Mackenzie Morgan and Quinn Valerino. For decades, the family enjoyed being annual Walt Disney World passholders, beach trips and vacations following synchronized swimming (now known as artistic swimming) competitions around the country. In addition, there was a period during which the couple – who genuinely enjoyed being sports fans of youth, high school, college and pro sports of all kinds -- attended an annual college bowl game – beginning with Boise, Idaho for the Humanitarian Bowl at the famed “blue field.”

The couple, members of Resurrection Catholic Church for more than 40 years, was among the first families involved with the building of Resurrection Catholic School in Lakeland, where their daughters attended.

Valerino’s other interests include collecting baseball, basketball and football cards – especially those featuring the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and the Dallas Cowboys; watching vintage “Laural and Hardy” shows and collecting their movies and memorabilia from that period. Additionally, a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, Valerino attended numerous FSC Homecoming events over the years, enjoying fraternity reunion events. He and a number of his Phi Sig brothers have enjoyed meeting up for MLB baseball trips during recent summers.

He is survived by his wife Lorraine; daughters Mackenzie Morgan (Brandon); Quinn Valerino (Steven Allen); seven grandchildren Jason Elsea, Emma Morgan, Kaylyn Morgan, Bella Morgan, Rosalee Valerino, Grayson Valerino and Madilyn Allen, all of Lakeland; brother Jim Valerino (Charlene) of Kissimmee; in-laws Leanne and Bobby Green of Auburndale; Laura and Mike Bloeth of Valrico; Christy and Mark Bloeth of Woodstock, Ga.; Barry Costello of Winter Haven; Maryann and Steve Rhodes of Palm Harbor; Grace Diglio of Lutz; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, great-nieces, great-nephews; and cousins in the Pittsburgh, Pa., and Cleveland, Ohio areas.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lakeland YMCA youth sports programs or the charity of your choice in Valerino’s name. A visitation is scheduled for Friday, March 10 from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. at Heath Funeral Chapel. A funeral mass is scheduled for Saturday, March 11 at 10:30 a.m. at Resurrection Catholic Church in Lakeland. The service will be LiveStreamed through www.rcclakeland.org (YouTube icon). The Rev. Father Matthew Mello is the celebrant. A eulogy will be presented prior to the Mass service.