Diane Rivers Valentino

Diane Rivers Valentino, age 78, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, entered into eternal rest on Monday, December 2, 2024. Diane was the beloved wife of Marion C. Valentino and mother of Alicia Anne Valentino. Her love of life and friends, and especially her love for and devotion to her family, were well-known by all those who knew her.

Born on May 17, 1946 in Charleston, South Carolina, she was a cherished daughter of the late Brandwell Cozart Rivers and the late Ruth Gissell Larsen Rivers. She was raised on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Her life was idyllic as a true Island Child, passing her youth running barefoot and playing in the sand and surf with her sister, Linda, and her childhood friends, Cathy Cleary (Baker) and Judy Darnell (Benton), who remained extremely close lifelong friends. Ironically, although she spent her entire life up to the time she married living a block from the beach and the ocean, she never really cared very much for seafood.

Diane attended Sullivan’s Island Elementary School and then went directly to the eighth grade at Moultrie High School. She was a 1964 graduate of Moultrie, where she was a football cheerleader and a member of Student Council, as well as being involved in numerous other school and club activities. She was a member and former Worthy Advisor of the Mount Pleasant Assembly Number 15 of the Rainbow Girls, participating in many community service projects. During her high school years, she was always on the go and especially loved dancing at The Seaside on the Isle of Palms. She was a true friend to everyone, and while at Moultrie she met the love of her life and future husband, Marion, whom she began dating their senior year. This was the start of an uninterrupted 60-year relationship.

Diane often travelled to Columbia, South Carolina, where Marion was a student at the University of South Carolina, to attend football games and other college activities. Even though not a student at USC, because of her innate friendliness and special ability to brighten any occasion, she was elected “Sweetheart” of Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, where she was affectionately known as “the girl from the land of the three Rivers…the Ashley, the Cooper and Diane”. She was a life-long Gamecock fan, although in truth she much more enjoyed watching the band perform than the actual football game.

Diane and Marion were married on June 23, 1968 in St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Charleston, South Carolina, thus beginning a steadfast and loving marriage that lasted 56 precious years.

In early 1970 Diane found herself in Bamberg, West Germany, where Marion was assigned as a member of the US Army. For two and one-half years they took advantage of every available opportunity to absorb the experience of living in Europe, on numerous occasions throwing a bag in the VW Beetle on a Friday afternoon and heading out to wherever a festival or cultural event was taking place within striking distance. Longer excursions when possible took them all over Europe from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. She especially treasured the visits to Italy and the Alpine areas. It was also in Bamberg that Diane and Marion formed deep and treasured friendships with fellow Army cohorts Tom & Sue Bailey, Bob & Joanne DeClerq, and Keith & Sharon Kimsey. These valued friendships have lasted to this day.

Upon returning from Germany, Diane and Marion resided over the next twelve years on the Isle of Palms and in Conway, Beaufort and Easley, South Carolina. On December 21, 1977, while living in Beaufort, Diane experienced what she considered her life’s crowning achievement by giving birth in Charleston to her precious daughter, Alicia Anne.

In 1984 Diane and Marion were fortunate to return home to the East Cooper area, residing in Mount Pleasant where they lived for 40 years and raised their beloved daughter, Alicia. Diane continued to be an exemplary mother, homemaker and volunteer for a multitude of organizations. She spent many hours involved in the James B. Edwards Elementary School PTA and SAIL programs and later the Moultrie Middle School PTA programs. She served several years as a Girl Scout Leader for several different troops, always willing to fill her dining room to the ceiling with boxes of cookies. She was active in the Wando High School Band Booster Club. She especially loved taking Alicia to horseback riding sessions at the old Girl Scout Plantation and Johns Island riding stables as well as Pony Club events, even though she was ever apprehensive whenever Alicia was on horseback.

Diane was a cheerful volunteer for a variety of activities at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mount Pleasant. She established many lifelong friendships through church and neighborhood activities. She served for a number of years on the Wakendaw Lakes Civic Association’s Board and was landscaping coordinator for several years. She was also a member of the Wakendaw Lakes Women’s Club and for years headed the neighborhood front entrance Christmas decorating activities.

Diane was an animal and nature lover. She adored cocker spaniels and over the course of her life had three beloved companions, Whiskers in her youth and Taffy and then Dixie later in her life as an adult. Her passion for feeding birds was unparalleled. Regardless of weather, she ensured there was always seed, suet, mealworms and water available for them all. She also continuously planted and maintained butterfly-friendly flora in her yard and always eagerly awaited the emergence of butterflies from their cocoons.

Diane especially enjoyed her association through her husband with the members and other wives of the historic Washington Light Infantry of Charleston. On many occasions she graciously served as a hostess for out-of-town guests of the WLI. No one was a stranger to Diane. She had a unique ability to make anyone and everyone feel genuinely welcome. She always looked forward to the yearly trips to the Centennial Legion of Historic Military Commands annual meetings that were held at different locations along the East Coast from Georgia to New Hampshire, each trip serving to renew old friendships and to make new friends.

Diane was a Past President and long-time Board member of the Snee Farm Garden Club, as well as a Past President and long-time member of the Mount Pleasant Garden Club, in which she truly enjoyed the many gardening and social activities and especially the camaraderie. She also truly enjoyed her weekly line-dancing sessions and the weekly ukulele sessions with the Coastal Strummers. Most of all she treasured the many close friendships she had forged over the years through these various activities.

Especially dear to her heart were the weekly dinner dates with old high school friends, Cathy and Randy Baker, Judy and Jack Benton, and Margie and Francis Limbaker. She cared little about the food or where she was dining; she treasured the companionship.

Diane loved her extended and especially her immediate family. She and Marion actively participated in her maternal family’s annual Pundt Family Reunion for over fifty years and she eagerly looked forward each year to seeing distant (literally) relatives. She served several times as the organization’s president. Over the many past years, she loved visiting her daughter and son-in-law, her brother and sister, her nieces, and her sisters-in-law and the families of all of them.

Diane was preceded in death by her parents; her brother Robert Glenn Larsen; her sister-in-law Charline Williams Larsen; her brothers-in-law Paul Henri Valentino and Ernest Brian Killingsworth; and her niece Amanda Ruth Killingsworth.

Diane is survived by her loving husband, Marion; her beloved daughter, Alicia Anne Valentino (Steven Rice) of Rexford NY; her sister, Linda Rivers Killingsworth of

Mount Pleasant, SC; nieces Tory Coggins (Andrew) of Longview, TX; Cheryl Lynn Malloy (Mike) of Suffolk, VA; Rhonda McCorkle (Kent) of Hendersonville, NC; Ellen Larsen of Travelers Rest, SC; Cynthia McGill (Charles) of Hewitt, TX; Elizabeth Larsen of Atlanta, GA; Emily Graham (Edward) of Fairbanks, AK; nephew Adam Valentino of Salt Lake City, UT; first cousins Annette Seignious (John) of Mount Pleasant, SC; Stephen Gissell (Nina) of Mount Pleasant, SC; and Robert Gissell (Nancy) of Charleston, SC; sisters-in-law Marta Toney (Bob) of Lexington, SC and Pamela Valentino of Springfield, VA; and several grand-nieces and grand-nephews and many extended cousins.

Diane was a rare and special individual who magically affected all those around her during her entire lifetime. Her enthusiasm, friendliness and unwavering loyalty brought out the best in everyone she touched. Many lives were quietly enriched because of her.

All of the above is a brief history of Diane’s life. But how do you really summarize one’s entire life in a few paragraphs? To truly describe her as a person and her life in its entirety in one concise sentence, it can be stated quite simply: Diane was a gracious Southern lady who, above all else, was a loving and compassionate wife, mother and friend.

Diane Rivers Valentino was neither rich nor famous by the standards of today’s society, but to those who knew her and loved her, she was a priceless treasure who will be missed each and every day and who will remain in our hearts forever.

Rest in peace, My Love.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at the J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Mount Pleasant Chapel, located at 1494 Mathis Ferry Road in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina at 3:00 pm. The family will receive friends for the visitation at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers please make a remembrance gift to the Charleston Animal Society, 2455 Remount Road, Charleston SC 29406; the National Audubon Society, PO Box 8908, Topeka KS 66608; or the Mount Pleasant Garden Club, c/o Linda Ernst, Treasurer, 2017 Arundel Place, Mount Pleasant SC 29464.

A memorial message may be sent to the family on our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com.