Birth date: Apr 7, 1948 Death date: Jul 2, 2022
Valerie Hanewicz Kemp, of Mount Laurel NJ, died peacefully on 02 July 2022. Valerie was born on 07 Apr 1948, in Wilkes Barre, PA to Madeline Gazey Snyder and Harold (Dutch) Snyder. She was Predeceased by both her parents and late Read Obituary
Valarie
I met Val in the late 60’s through Herbie. They were both still in college. Herbie was friends with my Ex. We had met a few years before. They were a striking couple. He looked like a Lance Romance, and She was an exotic beauty with long dark hair. She reminded me of a young Ali MacGraw. We had dinner together. At dinner Herbie asked her what she would like to do for the weekend? With a very determined Mickey Mouse voice she replied, “Oh no Herbie! When we’re in Wilkes Barre I always come up with a plan. You live here! You come up with something!” That made me smile and we became fast friends. Val’s birthday is April 7th and mine is April 5th, so we were often on the same page about a lot of things. We both loved to read, we both loved movies and we both loved Jack Nicholson. I gave her a black and white poster of him one year and she told me Herbie only let her hang it up in the bathroom. We screamed with laughter. There were always lots of laughs. Valerie and Herbie are Godparents to my daughter Cherise. During the ceremony we were at the altar and my daughter was probably 8 months old and very aware of what was happening. When the Pastor put his hand on her head, she knocked it off. Val chuckled. When he put his hand on her arm she grunted and knocked it off. Val made a squeaky sound. When he tried to connect with her by touching her dress she grunted and knocked it off. Val laughed. You know that laugh. I leaned in and asked Val was my daughter rejecting God. Val howled!
Throughout the years we shared many laughs and tears. I eventually moved to Los Angeles and became part of the entertainment world. Val knew more about what was going on out here than I did. No matter what was happening in our lives, no matter if we spoke at the holidays or birthdays, we never ever missed Oscar Night. That was the night we caught up with our lives and then we talked films. It was our ritual. All my friends and family knew not to call me on Oscar Night because that was reserved for Valerie. I’ve been in LA 42 years. We only missed 1 Oscar Night when her mom, passed. We spoke on this year's Oscar night and after the "Slap" we spoke the next day.
Over all the years we did actually spend time together on 3 different occasions. One hug and it was like a day never passed. I will never forget her smile, her laugh, her love for Herbie, her sons and grandkids.
I will never, ever forget Oscar night!
My prayers and Love to Herbie for the blessing you have been to her life. and to the family for the joy, you have always given her.
Linda
Aunt Val was my Godmother. I will always remember her the same way I did as a kid. Exactly the same way she described herself in the email when she reached out to me while I was going through my divorce. "Remember ME! I used to be oh so thin, witty, with long dark hair, & full of energy." As if I or anyone could ever forget her. I loved to play with her long hair and braid it when I was little. I knew as my Godmother she would always protect me, like an Angel. Like most kids I worried something may happen to my mom. I was able to seek a little bit of comfort knowing that if it did Aunt Val and Uncle Herbie would take good care of me. Even as an adult she still tried. After moving to California, I kept up with her and Uncle Herbie mainly through my mom, "my gal Pal Linda," knowing they did the same. We all met up in Vegas ("Sin City") during Easter and nothing had changed except her hair was shorter. Good times and great memories! When we talked, I enjoyed hearing her laugh and constant proud praise of Jamaal and Ben with Uncle Herbie always near and dear in the background. She was one of my biggest cheerleaders. I was so Blessed to have her as my Godmother. I'm sending Prayers and Love to you Uncle Herbie and all the family.
