Valerie J. Stellke passed away on Thursday, May 23, 2024, at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, N.Y. She was 77.
Born in Manhattan on Jan. 17, 1947, to the late Ignatius and Antoinette (Giordano) Ribaudo, Valerie grew up in the Bronx before moving to the Highland Lakes section of Vernon, where she lived until retiring to Toms River.
After her husband’s passing, she moved to Middletown to be near her brother.
Valerie began her career in education at New York University as an administrative assistant and retired from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn as the school administrator.
She was an animal lover and had a special connection with her dogs and cats.
Besides her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, William Stellke Sr., and her sister, Rosanne Ribaudo.
Valerie is survived by her brother, Nicholas Ribaudo and his wife Patricia of Peekskill, N.Y.; her nephews, Francis Ribaudo and his wife Dimitra and Nicholas Ribaudo Jr. and his wife Melissa; her great-nephew and -nieces, William, Julie and Noelle Ribaudo; and her stepchildren, Doreen Levine, William Jr., Robert and Richard Stellke and their eight children and seven grandchildren.
Friends may pay their respects to the family Wednesday, May 29 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Pinkel Funeral Home, 31 Bank St. (Route 23), Sussex. A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 30 at the funeral home. Interment will immediately follow at Deckertown- Union Cemetery in Wantage.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation in Valerie Stellke’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.pinkelfuneralhome.com