Obituary of Meryck Valintine Keating

Meryck Valintine Keating Valintine, as he was known to his friends and loved ones, was born on May 20, 1956 in Portland, Jamaica West Indies. He was the ninth of tenth children born to Clifford and Alma Keating. Uncle Val was an artist from a young age. He drew his inspiration from the natural beauty of Jamaica and a very encouraging artistic aunt Nestle. At the age of 13, he and his family moved to New York where he became active in sports. He preferred gym to art at the time but his homeroom teacher, impressed with his doodling, saw potential in him and encouraged him to take more art classes. After high school, he enrolled in Pell’s Art School and took classes at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. After that he freelanced for agencies that served the movie industry and moved on to network television advertising. This was when he became more interested in photography which led to shooting photos at sporting events while working at CBS and NBC in New York City. A less stressful life, warmer climate and the ability to play golf year-round were motivating factors for him to move to Florida with his wife and three daughters. Along with doing faux work in many beach homes in South Florida he also painted artwork to compliment the faux work he was doing. Val had his works of art seen in the Ritz Carlton, Rose Hall, and Half Moon in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He also had his work shown in galleries in Montego Bay, Jamaica and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But more than his artwork, Uncle Val was a husband, father, brother, son, uncle and friend. He was always in good spirits greeting everyone with a joke and a smile. Even throughout his illness he was always joking with people or lending a sensitive ear. He was truly one of a kind and, for many, there will be a void that will not be filled. On a more personal note Uncle Val was always there for me. When I was little, I could not have ice cream in the house. I would call my grandma before he came home and ask her to ask him to buy ice cream for me. When he got home, he would turn right around and walk from East 35 St to East 18 St in Brooklyn to buy ice cream for me from a Carvel that was two blocks from my house. He was my babysitter and sometimes he walked past my summer camp just to say hi to me from outside the gate. All I can say is that I will miss you Uncle Val. You were my favorite uncle and my children loved you just as much. So much so, that my daughter told my brother that Uncle Val was her favorite uncle. Lol. He was Godfather to my brother and as my brother got older, he was one of a handful of people he would talk and laugh with almost daily. Your pain is over, and you are in a better place. I will love you always, Your niece, Julia