In 1969, Dr. Luis A. Valenzuela was stationed in South Carolina with U.S. Army Medical Corps. He was supposed to be sent to Japan, but his wife was pregnant with their son Michael.
Valenzuela "got in his car and drove from South Carolina to The Pentagon to say that he couldn't go because of my mother's pregnancy," said his son David. His superiors agreed, on the condition that he accept a later assignment to Germany. But he was discharged with the rank of major in 1970 without going overseas.
Along with being a devoted father, Valenzuela was a brilliant researcher and scientist who contributed to the development of the PSA test to screen for prostate cancer.
But the center of his life was his wife of 56 years, June. After she died Dec. 6 of Covid-19, Valenzuela, who was also diagnosed with the disease in late November, struggled to remain interested in life. He was hospitalized for five days in Erie County Medical Center and, after his release, died Dec. 23 in the Grand Island home they had shared.
"All he wanted was to be with her," said David Valenzuela.
Valenzuela had a "big bellowing laugh," his son Michael Valenzuela said. "He was a very carefree, spirited person. He would talk to strangers and make them smile or laugh. He was a very outgoing man, and if he could touch somebody in a positive way, he would do that."
Valenzuela was born on April 22, 1937, in Tunija, Bogota, Colombia, and graduated from medical school at the Universidad Nacional De Colombia in 1962, second in his class. After immigrating to the United States in 1963, he met June Gardinier, a dietitian, while they were both working at Deaconess Hospital. They married on Sept. 11, 1964.
He served in the Army Medical Corps from 1968 until 1970, receiving the National Defense Service Medal.
Back in his wife's Western New York hometown, Valenzuela worked at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Kenmore Mercy Hospital and finally at St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was chief of pathology for some 20 years. He retired in 1995.
He also operated a private lab, often working 12-hour days.
In 1979, with researcher T. Ming Chu, Ph.D., of Roswell Park, Valenzuela and two others reported the discovery and purification of the Prostate-Specific Antigen. Blood tests for PSA can now find prostate cancer long before symptoms appear, when treatment can still be effective.
Around 2000, the Valenzuelas moved to Williamsburg, Va., then moved back to Western New York in 2012 to be closer to family after June was treated for breast cancer.
As busy as he was when his children were young, Valenzuela "was always around for soccer games, school concerts and plays," said David Valenzuela.
"My dad was very proud of his family; he always talked about his children, his grandchildren," said Michael Valenzuela.
And in later years, he and his wife were inseparable.
"Where one went, the other was," Michael Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela was a fan of the Buffalo Sabres – he shared season tickets for many years with other doctors – and the Buffalo Stallions, who played professional soccer from 1979 to 1984. When his children got older, he was always happy to share the tickets, "and made sure we all got turns to use them," said his daughter Sara Calabrese.
He was also a history buff, with particular interest in the U.S. Civil War.
Besides his sons, Valenzuela is survived by three daughters, Lisa Moore, Sara Calabrese and Marta Rodin, and 10 grandchildren.
A celebration of life for Luis A. and June Valenzuela will be held at a later date.
