Thaddeus Valentine Sr., the retired fire chief of the Herbert Wallace Volunteer Fire Department, worked tirelessly to make covid-19 testing and vaccinations available for members of his community but he hesitated to get the vaccine for himself.
The Louisiana father, his daughter and son died within days of each other after contracting covid-19. A native of Thibodaux, Louisiana, and a resident of Avondale, Valentine, Sr. was 72.
He died of the coronavirus, followed within days by the death of his two children, Thaddeus Valentine Jr., 52, and Ta’Mara V. Davis, 47.
“It just all happened at once. It just hit our entire household at once,” said Thyreal Valentine, Valentine Sr.’s granddaughter, in a WDSU report. “We were not expecting it to turn out like this. Because we tried our hardest to keep them safe.”
Valentine Senior’s 16-year-old granddaughter said she expected her mother, uncle and grandfather to “bounce back” from the illness and it was hard to lose them so fast. “It is hard because my grandpa, he was always there for me,” she said. “To wake up and know he is not there, or I cannot call him like I usually do. It is just hurtful.”
Those who knew Valentine Sr. professionally remembered him as a fierce advocate for his community.
Dr. ShondraWilliams is the CEO of InclusiveCare, where Valentine Sr. mobilized community members to get covid tests and vaccinations. “He never missed a meeting even if he was the only one in attendance,” Williams wrote in a post announcing Valentine’s death.
“We have been here trying to fight covid-19. He was largely a part of all of our plans, and ambitions to try to make the community safe,” he Williams, according to a report by New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU.
The total number of covid-19 infections in the U.S. now stands at 27,109,084 with 460,593 deaths since the first case of the disease was reported in the U.S., according to Worldometers.
Louisiana has reported 406,235 cases and 9,006 deaths.
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