Rosario Tolentino Vallarta Valtos OBITUARY Rosario Tolentino Vallarta Valtos, age 93, of Barrington, IL passed away peacefully at home on Friday, December 20, 2024. Rosario was born in Manila, Philippines on October 4, 1931. Rose’s full name at birth was Maria Rosario Cecilia Tolentino Vallarta.
Her friends just called her “Chit,” which was her father’s pet name for her. Her father was a civil engineer who died when Rose was a child. Her mother was a Professor of Botany at Philippine Women’s University.
Protecting Rose and her sister from the atrocities of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines became her mother’s priority. When their house was burned by the Japanese, the trio hid out with other homeless Manilenos in a nearby rotunda. When the first American troops arrived to rescue them, Rose said she thought they were Germans.
After the war, Rose earned her college degree and decided to become a fashion designer. Supported by her mother, she traveled to France and studied at the prestigious School of Design at Fontainebleau, near Paris. She then traveled to America, where she worked as a fashion designer, specializing in Sportswear in New York’s Fashion District.
This was where she met her husband, Bill. After a whirlwind courtship (so fast it required special dispensation from Cardinal Spellman) they were married in a wedding that lasted sixty-five years, until her death. Rosario is survived by her beloved husband of 65 years, William Valtos; her loving chi.