Louis Ferdinand Valentine III ’42
Lou died May 13, 2003, of renal failure, in South Burlington, Vt. He was 85. Raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where his family owned a construction and land development business, he moved to the US in 1929 and prepared at Lawrenceville , where he displayed outstanding talent in literature and tennis (he later became Central American tennis champion).
At Princeton Lou collaborated in writing the book and lyrics for the '41 Triangle Club show Any Moment Now. Having dropped out after junior year, he engaged in playwriting and published his first book of poems, Of Mute Insensate Things, in 1942. Lou returned in 1945 to study journalism and finish college. The following year he published Days of Dust.
In 1952, after his father died and Lou returned to Honduras to run the family business, he married Maria Dolores Solorzano. They raised three boys and three girls. These endeavors left little time for the "speculative pursuit of writing plays." To that, other literary activities, and his family, Lou devoted full time after retiring in 1983.
Lou's family loved him deeply as a "wonderful husband and father." To Maria, the children, and 16 grandchildren, the class extends its sincere condolences for the loss of a beloved and talented classmate.
The Class of 1942
Paw in print
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Antonio Vilches
5 Days AgoFamily Ties
Louis Ferdinand Valentine III was my father’s relative. Both were descendants of one of the most important U.S. entrepreneurs in Central America, Washington S. Valentine, nicknamed “The King of Honduras.”
He built the first railroad in Honduras, he owned the Rosario Mining Company, he built the first seaport in the Atlantic Ocean, and he founded the Bank Of Honduras. He also competed for the construction of the first trans-oceanic canal through Nicaragua and Costa Rica, losing his project against the Panama Canal.
My name is Antonio Vilches (my grandmother was Josephine M. Valentine, born in Guatemala in the 1880s and died in Mexico City circa 1950) and she was probably Louis Valentine I’s daughter, Louis Valentine II’s sister, and Louis Valentine III’s aunt (my father’s cousin).
As you can see right now, I am doubtful in a few issues. I am 78 years old and I own lots of pictures and have lots of documents regarding the Valentines since Washington S. Valentine. But if somebody is interested, we could work together in organizing all the information. It’s amazing all the information of which right now I am being the guardian. My mother tongue is Spanish. I also speak French. And now I am writing in the English that I speak. Thank you for your time and/or help.