Evelyn Valentin died on September 19, 2026, at the age of 73 after living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Evelyn was born in New York City on December 30, 1952, during a massive snowstorm. The roads were so bad that her parents, Eva and Pedro Juan Valentin, received a police escort to the hospital.

The second of five girls, Evelyn was smart, fiercely independent, stubborn, funny, and always did things her own way. She graduated from high school at just 16 and attended the University of Puerto Rico before eventually returning to New York.

Evelyn earned two master’s degrees from Adelphi University and devoted her career to education. She taught English as a Second Language for the New York City Board of Education, including many years at John Adams High School, and later taught TESOL as an adjunct professor at Adelphi University.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Manuel Ramos; her parents; her sisters Elizabeth, Betty, and Victoria; her half-brother Peter; and her half-sister Nilda. She is survived by her daughter, Alexis; daughter-in-law, Sarrah; sister, Jenny; half-sister, Carmen; and nieces, Luvena and Jacky.

Evelyn loved her family, her dogs, shopping, finding a great deal, and watching NCIS and DOC. She loved mussels, morcilla, pernil, and especially Manuel’s cooking. She adored her dogs Cooky, Caytee, Diego, and Hermes.

She had strong opinions and was never afraid to share them. She gave Alexis plenty of advice, which Alexis frequently did the exact opposite of. Their relationship was loving, funny, complicated, and incredibly close.

Alzheimer’s changed Evelyn in the final years of her life, but it does not define the life she lived. She was a teacher, a wife, a mother, a sister, a dog mom, and a New Yorker. She was stubborn, passionate, funny, and completely herself.

She was deeply loved, and she will be deeply missed.