COVID-19

George Valentine, a member of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s legal counsel, died March 27 after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. “George’s dedication to the people he served was evident in his work and in the love and wisdom he shared with residents and colleagues.” Bowser said on Twitter. Valentine worked as deputy attorney general for the Civil Litigation Division and most recently as deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Legal Counsel. He earned his undergraduate degree at Oakwood College in Alabama and then pursued a law degree at Harvard Law School, according to social media posts and his LinkedIn page. Friends and colleagues remember him as “kind” and “smart.” Valentine cared deeply about underserved children in DC and routinely volunteered to be a foster parent and had adopted a child, according to the DC attorney general. “The George Valentine that we know as the fella that can go into the courtroom and manage lawyers and develop lawyers is one person. The George Valentine that went out of his way to look out for kids who needed a consistent adult in their life is someone we all will miss,” DC Attorney General Karl Racine told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview. Rancine told BuzzFeed News that Valentine contributed mightily to the District of Columbia as a lawyer, working for over 25 years with a win rate of approximately 95% in DC courts. Racine said he was “deeply saddened personally” to hear the news of Valentine’s death. “That obviously brought a level of profound reality to the situation that we’re in with the virus and the pandemic.”