Obituary of Gaspar Valenti

Gary Valenti, a pioneer in the housewares industry died on November 3rd, 2016. He attended Brooklyn College and City College of New York where he majored in Business Administration and Foreign Trade. After working for Sperry Gyroscope and Bendix Aviation, he was stationed in Italy on a mission in Ballistic Research for the U.S. Army. He served Army duty for 3 years, marching on with his duty to Lucca, Florence, Caserta and Naples. He was discharged in 1946. Mr. Valenti, beginning in 1946, was one of the first to re-open and re-develop the Italian houseware line in the USA and represented the leading firms in Italy. His initial importation of espresso coffee makers led to the development of a very vast line of houseware products. He introduced the Bialetti Moka Express to the USA market and designed many of the gadgets taken for granted today. He was also active then with the Italian Commercial Office and the State Department making specialized broadcasts in Italy. In 1958, he founded two firms – Pasta-Mat, Inc. and Pastamatic, Inc. for the manufacture and importation of industrial machinery for all food products, specializing in the production of fresh pasta. He opened the first fresh pasta shop in the USA developing the market nationwide for freshly made pasta products. He was Chairman of the Houseware Committee of the Italy America Chamber of Commerce, Inc., also serving on the Board of Directors for many years and as Vice-President. He was an outstanding person, very proud to be an American and very proud of his Italian heritage. He loved his family and his work, always bringing his sense of humor and enthusiasm to everything he did. He made a lasting impression on all he met as an honorable gentleman and will be remembered for his sense of fairness.