Tina Valentino: Succeeding with Support of the Sisters

“My house is like a shrine to Rosary,” jokes Tina Valentino ’82 as she talks about her framed photographs of Sr. Cyrille Gill and other keepsakes she has held on to for the last 40 years.

For Valentino, Dominican University will always be Rosary College, the place where she formed lasting, supportive bonds with the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters post-graduation.

“They were there for me through trying times; there was always a letter in my mailbox,” Valentino recalled. “They showed me that Caritas Veritas is much more than a motto. They lived it. And it’s still part of me.”

Valentino, who majored in English, is the founder, publisher, editor, writer and face of Neighbors Magazine. The free monthly print publication details “good news” and upcoming events in Melrose Park and surrounding suburbs, and is a vehicle for locally owned small businesses to advertise.

The Sisters—particularly her “biggest mentor” Sr. Cyrille—gave her the confidence she needed to succeed, Valentino says.

It was also her connection to the Sisters that made her an advocate for the canonization of Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, founder of the Sinsinawa Dominican Order. Valentino has promoted Mazzuchelli’s cause, and in the summer of 2008 attended a special Mass and ceremony at Queen of the Rosary Chapel at the Mound, where documents outlining a miracle attributed to Fr. Sam were blessed and sent off to Rome. Though sainthood still awaits, Valentino is hopeful.

“I try to keep Fr. Sam’s name out there as much as I can,” she said. “His faith was so strong. I still pray to him to this day.”