Valentino Baratta, age 77, passed away on Saturday February 5, 2022, just three days shy of his 78th birthday.
Born in Italy to the late Francesco and Divina (Presta) Baratta on February 8, 1944. He met the love of his life, Sulin (Oakley) and was married on April 10, 1965, in Illinois.
He worked at Jacobson Manufacturing for many years before it was shut down. He retired early and was able to spend all his free time with his family. He was an avid Wisconsin sports fan and loved going on bike rides with his grandchildren. He was known as the neighborhood and family handyman who could fix anything at any time, which ultimately made Menards his favorite spot to shop. If he wasn’t helping his neighbors, he was at the casino with or without Sulin sitting at the blackjack table while she was at the slot machines. She was the one that usually left with some money! Not many know, but he was a big fan of professional wrestling. He would watch every Monday and Friday evenings and even took the kids to live matches when they were younger. They kids would later return the favor as the years passed. If you knew Valentino, you knew he was a man of his word. If he said he would do something, he would do it.
Along with his wife, Sulin, he is survived by his children, Ken (Amy), Francesco “Frank” (Janet Mergl), and Michael Baratta; his siblings, Gulia Gagliardi, Mary Russo, Peter (Marian) Baratta, Rita (Paul) Fazio, and Faustino (Dot) Baratta; his grandchildren, Joseph, Alecsandra, Riley, IsaBella, Christopher, Tyler, Anthony, Angelina, and Micayla; great grandchildren, Haylee and Giovanni; and many other relatives and friends.
He is preceded by his parents; brother, Joseph Baratta; in-laws, Tony Gagliardi and Italo Russo.
Visitation will take place on Thursday, February 10, 2022, at Proko Funeral Home from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Service will take place on Friday, February 11, 2022, at Proko Funeral Home at 10:00 a.m. Entombment to follow at Sunset Ridge Memorial Park.