The Quality, Inspiring Life of Manny Valentin
When asked to highlight a few qualities about himself he’s most encouraged by, Manny Valentin paused before responding.
He thought.
The moment of silence, though, didn’t appear to be the result of trying to come up with answers, but rather how to explain them.
Manny then glanced at the crayon-colored picture pinned to the message board in his St. Mark’s Episcopal Church office. It was the work of one of his five grandkids given to him to hang up at work.
Then, he spoke.
“Last month, my 5-year-old granddaughter was, literally, dying in my hands,” the 46-year-old Puerto Rico native said, extending arms into the position he had held the little girl. “She was choking on a part of her dinner. I held her, got her mouth open and managed to dislodge the piece of meat that had been caught in her throat. I still have her teeth marks on my hand.”
Actions do indeed speak louder than words.
“You never want to be a hero in an experience like that, because you never want something so terrible to happen in the first place,” he said. “No matter the situation in life, the hope is for everything to stay good. But, that was rough. When you’re in the middle of it, you just keep doing it. But, afterwards, when everything has settled, that’s when you look back and reflect to really understand the impact of something like that and what you did.”
By way of looking back over the course of his life and direction in it, what emerges is a determined, though soft-spoken, individual with a strong mindset that has not only been to the benefit of himself, but others, as well.
“So much about me comes from the way my parents raised me,” Manny said. “I feel like I’m good at reading people and dealing with all kinds of situations. I think those are gifts the Lord gave me.”
Born and raised in the coastal town of Hatillo on Puerto Rico’s north shore in May of 1980, Manny was the fourth of six kids – three boys and three girls – born to parents who, in addition to having full-time jobs, served as Eucharistic ministers.
“Being one of six kids was a learning process that made me stronger, because I knew I couldn’t always depend on anybody to watch every little thing I was doing,” Manny explained. “I had to figure a lot out by myself.”
And, by all accounts, he’s done astoundingly well.
By the age of 10, Manny had learned to cook. It started as an action for himself that quickly grew to include meals for his siblings.
“Because of that, I came to love cooking,” he said. “My mom and dad taught me well. Beyond that, I paid attention to how my friends and their families cooked. I paid close attention to it all and learned well.”
In addition to their ministerial roles, Manny’s father served as a security guard for Cornell University’s Arecibo Observatory radio telescopes program in Puerto Rico. His mother worked in clothing factories.
“Our whole life revolved around church and home,” Manny reflected.
After succeeding through trade school to become an electronic technician in Puerto Rico, Manny would eventually pick up work as a truck driver that lasted nine years. Because of his standout work ethic and attitude, the company he worked with at the time financially supported his desire to go back to school and become well-versed in management.
With a wife and three kids to support, ensuring there were sufficient funds to provide for the family eventually became a concern. It was then, in 2015, when Manny set his sights on the States. Part of his intention to relocate was the result of his oldest brother, who had already made his way there – Jacksonville, to be specific – for his job with Honeywell.
“In 2015, about a year after he got here and established in Jacksonville, he called and told me I should come, too, and live with him while I got myself set with a job to support my family,” Manny said. “So, I did. I arrived here on a Friday and I was driving a truck for work three days later on Monday.”
Manny’s wife at the time and their three kids followed soon thereafter to their home in what was a challenging, Northside area.
“I never had any negative thoughts about where we lived, because I knew I was making a better life for my wife and kids,” he said.
Together, the couple had two kids. He did, however, take a third under his wing…a daughter his then-wife had before Manny came into the picture.
In March of 2023, when it became clear to him that things with his maintenance job at a local Extended Stay America hotel weren’t going to pan out, Manny began seeking other job opportunities. His search led him to a facilities and maintenance manager position available at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Ortega.
As fate would have it, about the same time, Manny and his wife divorced. He left the northside home to her and their children and relocated to San Marco.
Fittingly, and with consideration to all involved parties and factors, the self-made man remained true to one of many life lessons that had served him well.
“When you feel there is no solution to something you’re in the middle of, I think you have to hit stop….and start over,” Manny explained. “It’s among the hardest things you’ll ever have to do in life, but it has to be done. You then have to just keep going.”
And, that he did.
“I’d never heard of St. Mark’s before I started working there,” Manny said. “But, being there has provided me such a great opportunity to work with people from many different cultures. They’ve given me the space to learn, and I have learned a lot about to how add more value to the church and surrounding community.”
Even though St. Mark’s, specifically, was new to him, faith and spirituality have remained a guiding light over Manny’s journey through life. His parents had their children in church every Sunday and Wednesday.
Manny’s mother succumbed to brain cancer a few years ago, though his father is alive and well, remarried and happy in Puerto Rico. All three of Manny’s kids, now 22, 25 and 26, live and work independently right here in the 9-0-4. His daughter from his ex-wife’s first marriage is now home awaiting the birth of her baby.
With his oldest brother still in Jacksonville, Manny remains close to his siblings. Another brother and a sister relocated to the Ft. Myers area, while his two other sisters opted to remain at home in Puerto Rico.
While vacationing last year in the Dominican Republic by himself, Manny met and established a new love interest with a native of the Caribbean country. He’s presently working to try and get her to the States and closer to him.
With time to unwind and enjoy himself, that other love interest – cooking – takes front burner.
“If I’m cooking, I’m relaxed and in my happy place,” Manny smiled.
In terms of how he intends to chart the course for his future, people like Manny Valentin don’t have far to look for inspiration or direction. In fact, he needs only to look inside his head and heart that have combined to get him this far with poise, style and grace. By carrying himself in that fashion, everyone with whom he associates wins.
“I’d like to be remembered as someone who was always there to help others solve whatever problems they may be experiencing,” he said. “I don’t see myself as the only one able to solve problems, but when somebody calls for help, I hope I can provide good help to lead to the best answers.”
Even though he’s speaking of hopes and intentions, Manny has earned the right to do so, for each and every one of those words has, so far, been backed with action.
“When you’re good to people, I like to believe they are good back to you,” Manny explained. “I try to be not only the best human being I can be, but as much of a help to others as I can be, too. That’s the way I was brought up….to be a helper and problem solver. I try to be mindful, too, and do whatever it takes to become the best version of myself that I can be.”
Manny’s impressive attitude is certainly among the qualities for him to be encouraged by. And, while he’s the type to let actions speak louder than words to define him, he’s got a happy five-year-old granddaughter today who will forever speak gratefully and enthusiastically of his outstanding qualities.
He thought.
The moment of silence, though, didn’t appear to be the result of trying to come up with answers, but rather how to explain them.
Manny then glanced at the crayon-colored picture pinned to the message board in his St. Mark’s Episcopal Church office. It was the work of one of his five grandkids given to him to hang up at work.
Then, he spoke.
“Last month, my 5-year-old granddaughter was, literally, dying in my hands,” the 46-year-old Puerto Rico native said, extending arms into the position he had held the little girl. “She was choking on a part of her dinner. I held her, got her mouth open and managed to dislodge the piece of meat that had been caught in her throat. I still have her teeth marks on my hand.”
Actions do indeed speak louder than words.
“You never want to be a hero in an experience like that, because you never want something so terrible to happen in the first place,” he said. “No matter the situation in life, the hope is for everything to stay good. But, that was rough. When you’re in the middle of it, you just keep doing it. But, afterwards, when everything has settled, that’s when you look back and reflect to really understand the impact of something like that and what you did.”
By way of looking back over the course of his life and direction in it, what emerges is a determined, though soft-spoken, individual with a strong mindset that has not only been to the benefit of himself, but others, as well.
“So much about me comes from the way my parents raised me,” Manny said. “I feel like I’m good at reading people and dealing with all kinds of situations. I think those are gifts the Lord gave me.”
Born and raised in the coastal town of Hatillo on Puerto Rico’s north shore in May of 1980, Manny was the fourth of six kids – three boys and three girls – born to parents who, in addition to having full-time jobs, served as Eucharistic ministers.
“Being one of six kids was a learning process that made me stronger, because I knew I couldn’t always depend on anybody to watch every little thing I was doing,” Manny explained. “I had to figure a lot out by myself.”
And, by all accounts, he’s done astoundingly well.
By the age of 10, Manny had learned to cook. It started as an action for himself that quickly grew to include meals for his siblings.
“Because of that, I came to love cooking,” he said. “My mom and dad taught me well. Beyond that, I paid attention to how my friends and their families cooked. I paid close attention to it all and learned well.”
In addition to their ministerial roles, Manny’s father served as a security guard for Cornell University’s Arecibo Observatory radio telescopes program in Puerto Rico. His mother worked in clothing factories.
“Our whole life revolved around church and home,” Manny reflected.
After succeeding through trade school to become an electronic technician in Puerto Rico, Manny would eventually pick up work as a truck driver that lasted nine years. Because of his standout work ethic and attitude, the company he worked with at the time financially supported his desire to go back to school and become well-versed in management.
With a wife and three kids to support, ensuring there were sufficient funds to provide for the family eventually became a concern. It was then, in 2015, when Manny set his sights on the States. Part of his intention to relocate was the result of his oldest brother, who had already made his way there – Jacksonville, to be specific – for his job with Honeywell.
“In 2015, about a year after he got here and established in Jacksonville, he called and told me I should come, too, and live with him while I got myself set with a job to support my family,” Manny said. “So, I did. I arrived here on a Friday and I was driving a truck for work three days later on Monday.”
Manny’s wife at the time and their three kids followed soon thereafter to their home in what was a challenging, Northside area.
“I never had any negative thoughts about where we lived, because I knew I was making a better life for my wife and kids,” he said.
Together, the couple had two kids. He did, however, take a third under his wing…a daughter his then-wife had before Manny came into the picture.
In March of 2023, when it became clear to him that things with his maintenance job at a local Extended Stay America hotel weren’t going to pan out, Manny began seeking other job opportunities. His search led him to a facilities and maintenance manager position available at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Ortega.
As fate would have it, about the same time, Manny and his wife divorced. He left the northside home to her and their children and relocated to San Marco.
Fittingly, and with consideration to all involved parties and factors, the self-made man remained true to one of many life lessons that had served him well.
“When you feel there is no solution to something you’re in the middle of, I think you have to hit stop….and start over,” Manny explained. “It’s among the hardest things you’ll ever have to do in life, but it has to be done. You then have to just keep going.”
And, that he did.
“I’d never heard of St. Mark’s before I started working there,” Manny said. “But, being there has provided me such a great opportunity to work with people from many different cultures. They’ve given me the space to learn, and I have learned a lot about to how add more value to the church and surrounding community.”
Even though St. Mark’s, specifically, was new to him, faith and spirituality have remained a guiding light over Manny’s journey through life. His parents had their children in church every Sunday and Wednesday.
Manny’s mother succumbed to brain cancer a few years ago, though his father is alive and well, remarried and happy in Puerto Rico. All three of Manny’s kids, now 22, 25 and 26, live and work independently right here in the 9-0-4. His daughter from his ex-wife’s first marriage is now home awaiting the birth of her baby.
With his oldest brother still in Jacksonville, Manny remains close to his siblings. Another brother and a sister relocated to the Ft. Myers area, while his two other sisters opted to remain at home in Puerto Rico.
While vacationing last year in the Dominican Republic by himself, Manny met and established a new love interest with a native of the Caribbean country. He’s presently working to try and get her to the States and closer to him.
With time to unwind and enjoy himself, that other love interest – cooking – takes front burner.
“If I’m cooking, I’m relaxed and in my happy place,” Manny smiled.
In terms of how he intends to chart the course for his future, people like Manny Valentin don’t have far to look for inspiration or direction. In fact, he needs only to look inside his head and heart that have combined to get him this far with poise, style and grace. By carrying himself in that fashion, everyone with whom he associates wins.
“I’d like to be remembered as someone who was always there to help others solve whatever problems they may be experiencing,” he said. “I don’t see myself as the only one able to solve problems, but when somebody calls for help, I hope I can provide good help to lead to the best answers.”
Even though he’s speaking of hopes and intentions, Manny has earned the right to do so, for each and every one of those words has, so far, been backed with action.
“When you’re good to people, I like to believe they are good back to you,” Manny explained. “I try to be not only the best human being I can be, but as much of a help to others as I can be, too. That’s the way I was brought up….to be a helper and problem solver. I try to be mindful, too, and do whatever it takes to become the best version of myself that I can be.”
Manny’s impressive attitude is certainly among the qualities for him to be encouraged by. And, while he’s the type to let actions speak louder than words to define him, he’s got a happy five-year-old granddaughter today who will forever speak gratefully and enthusiastically of his outstanding qualities.
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