Mr. Telesforo Del Valle (“Ted”) has been a constant at Our Lady of Mount Carmel…  

Whether on the pulpit as a lector, with his family in their familiar pew at the noon Mass, giving tours of the Academy at annual Open Houses, or cutting it up on the dance floor at fundraisers, Ted has always been there for OLMC.

Born and raised in New York City, a lunch in the famed neighborhood of Soho started it all. Ted met his bride, Claudia, and, laughing, he recalls how they didn’t exactly jive on their first meeting, but the Holy Spirit and a little luck found them married and blessed with the arrival of Justin in 2003. The couple moved to Leonia from the Eastside of New York City and, fourteen months later, Claudia had some exciting and jittery news. Matthew, their second son, was born. Their beautiful family was growing!

“When you hear, ‘Honey, I’m pregnant’ again, you really start thinking about schools. We tried three pre-schools for the kids, and I was searching and kept hearing about a school in Tenafly. I heard all these great things about the school and a guy named Fr. Ashley (Pastor Emeritus of OLMC and 2016 Hall of Fame inductee). The Del Valles were soon parishioners.

“I fell in love with Ms. Clifford,” Ted says a little devilishly with a smile about the Academy’s beloved Pre-Kindergarten 3 teacher. “I was a Catholic school guy, so for me and Claudia it’s important to have a moral centeredness—kids need a moral center.”

The love was mutual. Almost immediately the couple got involved. “In schools, as a new family you can feel intimidated. At OLMC it was the complete opposite,” Ted says. “I would hang out and meet the teachers and new families.”

Mr. Ted Del Valle

Living in Leonia, a town with a great public school system, it can give one pause to pay tuition at a Catholic school. “I remember it was a ‘First Friday Mass’ when the kids were in church, we were waiting for Mass to begin, and the children walked in holding hands with their younger prayer buddies and my wife leaned over and said, ‘Now I understand.’” The teachers were also big examples for Ted. “It impressed me that the teachers coming together and helping the kids not just academically, but as people. They are interested in who they are.”

As a founding member of the Academy’s Dads’ Club, and often the first to raise his hand to volunteer, Ted was able to share stories with other parents and found something more than an academic community. Ted puts it bluntly, “We became a family.” We’re a family. We serve together, we party together, and we grieve together—and, like any good family, we disagree but we are all still one,” Ted says.

On why he gets so involved in all aspects of the parish and Academy, he says, “It’s easy. We love what we do. We care.  We care about service and what is happening in the world, and when I say ‘we’, I mean OLMC. OLMC always says yes, so we say yes.”

Of all the events, fundraisers and ministries Ted has been involved in, one of his favorites is giving Academy tours. “If I find something good, I want to share it—I love and enjoy OLMC, so I want to share it. So, giving tours seemed like a simple idea.  I would be giving tours and people would literally say afterwards, could I bribe you to get on the waiting list?

Years from that fateful meeting in the Pre-Kindergarten classroom, after countless service events, after Justin’s proud graduation last year and thinking of Matthew graduating this year, he reflects. “It’s a blessing,” Ted says thoughtfully. “I thought it was a just a blessing for my kids, but it was for all of us.” Ted’s right. Mount Carmel always says yes and now it’s OLMC’s turn to say yes to Ted and his family.

The Lumen Christi Award will be presented to Mr. Telesforo Del Valle.  The Lumen Christi Award, Latin for “the light of Christ,” is given to those individuals and couples who not only serve the community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel by shining a light into their world, but share that light in a variety of ways by worshiping and praying with us as members of our church.