Candace B. Valente, 68, passed away on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at home following a well fought battle against COPD. She was born in Hartford, CT on March 2, 1954 to John and Ann Baker. Some of her favorite childhood memories included time spent playing competitive tennis, as well as a school trip to Spain in 8th grade. Candy, as she was known to most, graduated from Hall High School in 1972 and soon after married her high school sweetheart, Dan Valente, and started a family. Her two daughters, Melinda and Sarah, were her pride and joy.

She spent her professional career serving in various capacities in retail, including management positions at Shop Rite, Card Gallery, and Buck-A-Book. Later in life she was able to fulfill a dream of owning her own business. Her corner store, AJ’s, was lovingly named for her parents and was located in downtown Hartford, a community she came to care for deeply. It was this community, along with her family and friends, that gave her the support and encouragement she needed to win her battle against breast cancer.

In the next chapter of her life, she drew upon her kind and caring nature to provide home health care for a number of clients through Companions & Homemakers. When Dan became ill with Glioblastoma in 2014, she dedicated her time to caring for him until his passing in 2015.

An avid reader, she would often finish multiple books in a week, and was a regular patron of Barnes & Noble and the West Hartford and Newington public libraries. Candy was a devoted Yankees and Giants fan, much like her father. A lifelong dog lover, she not only found great joy with her pet dogs, but with the various animals she cared for in the animal shelter she volunteered at later in her life.

Candy was predeceased by her parents John and Ann Baker. She is survived by her two daughters: Melinda Valente and her son Dashiell of Los Angeles, and Sarah Quirk, and husband Tom Quirk, and their children Dominic and Evan, all of West Hartford. Candy’s three grandsons meant the world to her. Called “Geeka” by Dominic and Evan and “Grandma Candy” by Dashiell, she always made sure that she ended her conversations with them with “I love you”. The family would like to thank all the doctors and nurses associated with the pulmonary medicine department at UConn John Dempsey Hospital, and all of the doctors and nurses at Hartford Hospital who took such good care of her over the past year.

A Funeral Mass will be held Saturday, May 28 at 11:00am at Saint Thomas the Apostle Church, 872 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford, CT. Calling hours will take place on Friday, May 27 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm at the Sheehan-Hilborn-Breen Funeral Home, 1084 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford, CT. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Lung Association (https://action.lung.org/site/Donation2?df_id=31271&mfc_pref=T&31271.donation=form1). Online condolences may be made at www.SheehanHilbornBreen.com.

The link for the livestream of Candace Valente's Funeral Mass at Saint Thomas the Apostle Church can be found here at https://youtu.be/YZIKuXNF-E4.