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Visitation to take place for fallen St. Louis County detective

The visitation service will be held Thursday at Layne Renaissance Chapel

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Visitation and funeral services are set to begin Thursday for fallen St. Louis County police detective Antonio Valentine.

The visitation service will be held Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at Layne Renaissance Chapel on West Florissant.

Detective Valentine’s celebration of life Mass will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.

Valentine had been with the St. Louis County Police Department since 2007. He was an Army combat veteran who served in Iraq and recently retired from the Air Force Reserves.

After Friday's celebration of life Mass, he’ll be buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery with military honors.

RELATED: St. Louis County police officer dies after head-on crash

A touching memorial with a black bunting can be seen at the St. Louis County Police Department Central Precinct Thursday morning.

The community has been honoring detective Valentine in a number of ways over the past week or so. 

Tuesday, St. Louis County council members started their meeting remembering him with a moment of silence. Leaders also passed a resolution honoring detective Valentine.

On Saturday, Dec. 4 a candlelight vigil was held at Beaumont High School, detective Valentine's alma mater. Family and friends gathered together to honor him and share memories. 

During that vigil, detective Valentine’s uncle spoke on his nephew's character.

5 On Your Side spoke with some people near detective Valentine's memorial at the central precinct. 

Friends in attendance said Valentine was an all-around special guy.  

"He had a big heart. He was always willing to help anyone that he could help. He touched so many lives," said Jherissa Baker.

In his spare time, detective Antonio Valentine was a defensive coordinator and a board member for the Back in Black Flag Football League. 

A fellow coach in the league, Stephen Russell, said Valentine was a humble player turned defensive coordinator, board member and mentor.

"He was a man of integrity. He was a man of courage and he spoke his mind. He did so many things behind the scenes for our team and our players, people in our league, that no one knows about," said Russell.

The St. Louis County Police Department is encouraging the public to sign the Tribute Wall, add to the public memorial at the central precinct or leave online condolences for the family if anyone would like to pay their respects.

How to support the family

Valentine was a father of four children ranging in age from 10 to 22 years old. 

If you’d like to send flowers to the family, plant a tree in memory of Valentine or leave condolences for the family, click here.

The BackStoppers gave $10,000 to Valentine's family to be used for anything they may need, and the organization will continue to support them. If you’d like to make a donation to The BackStoppers to help his family, click here.

The St. Louis County Police Department has set up a public memorial at the Central County Precinct at 1333 Ashby Road. At the memorial, the public can leave flowers or other tokens of honor for the fallen detective.

 

 

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