Frederick M. Valerino Sr., who founded a pneumatic tube firm that makes products used in hospitals, died of heart failure Nov. 10 at Gilchrist Hospice Towson. The Timonium resident was 93.
Born in Syracuse, New York, he was the son of Michael Valerino and his wife, Katherine. He was a 1944 graduate of Solvay High School and joined the Army during World War II. He was stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
He was in the first graduating class of Le Moyne College in Syracuse. He sat on the Le Moyne board of directors from 2009 until 2019 and was awarded a doctorate of humane letters.
He joined the Lamson Corp. and became a regional manager in its pneumatic tube system division. He was transferred to Baltimore in 1958, and he and his family settled in Timonium.
In 1978 he founded Pevco, also a pneumatic tube firm.
“At that time pneumatic tubes were transitioning into the medical field and were used to move blood samples and pharmaceuticals within a hospital,” said his son, Fred M. Valerino Jr., president of Pevco, which is based in eastern Baltimore County.
He said his father founded the business as its lone employee. The company now employs 100 people and serves 800 hospitals in the United States in addition to others in Canada, China and the Middle East.
“My father revolutionized the pneumatic tube system industry and holds many U.S. patents associated with automation for the health care industry,” said another son, James G. Valerino, who also worked alongside his father in the business.
The elder Mr. Valerino worked actively until August.
He played golf at Hunt Valley Country Club and Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Delaware, and had a vacation home in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
In addition to his two sons, survivors include his wife of 70 years, Teresa A. McGraw, a homemaker; three daughters, Ann T. Hays of Towson, Susan M. Sheehan of Chatham, New Jersey, and Mary L. Gaultney of Timonium; a brother, Donald M. Valerino of Jupiter, Florida; 16 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. A daughter, Catherine A. Dill, died in 2015.
A memorial Mass was held Friday at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Cockeysville, where he was a member.