Akiko Matsuda

amatsuda@lohud.com

Maricia Valeur of Spring Valley died Aug. 1 at Pine Valley Nursing Home. She was 108.

The Rockland County government doesn't seem to keep records of the oldest person in the county, but Valeur's family and friends said they believed that she must have been the oldest in the area.

She immigrated to the United States in 1980 to live with her daughter, Lamercie Fonvil in Spring Valley.

Vilair Fonvil, Valeur's grandson who is a Spring Valley village trustee, said she had a good, long life, surrounded by her family and friends.

"She was the pillar of the family," Vilair Fonvil said. "She was very lovable. My friends adopted her as their grandmother, too."

Until she was 104, she had almost no health issues, and she remembered things much better than her younger family members.

"We're going to miss her," Vilair Fonvil said. "But there's no regret. She lived beyond our expectations."

Click here for her full obituary.