TOP CHARACTER STRENGTHS

SPIRITUALITY - PERSEVERANCE - LOVE

LT Valerie Cappelaere Delaney, died March 3rd 2013. She is remembered for the abundant love she shared with her family and friends, the amazing spirituality and faith in God she exhibited, and the relentless perseverance she channeled that enabled her to accomplish the lofty goals she set for herself.

As a child, Val was teased for wearing glasses and being overweight. She started running and training with a soccer goalkeeping coach so that by her freshman year in high school she had lost weight and made the varsity soccer team! During her college search, she set her aim at attending the Naval Academy, being motivated after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to follow in the footsteps of family members who had served in the military. However, she did not get in right away. Through perseverance, she attended a year of prep school before joining USNA Class of '09. During summer training with the Marines, Val learned the motto, Adapt and Overcome. She tirelessly used this mentality to graduate with a high-class rank in Aerospace Engineering.

As the middle child of three girls close in age, Val grew up in a very loving, tight-knit American-French family where she learned the importance of nurturing supportive relationships. She prioritized God and her family first, and she fully invested in close friendships throughout her lifetime. She also met and married the love of her life, Sean Delaney, a USNA classmate and Growler pilot. Their love for each other and the life they built together in Whidbey Island, WA was truly remarkable and inspiring. Val had a way of making people feel loved and appreciated; she was known for writing handwritten letters, sending care packages, and giving encouraging words to her friends and family.

Val was baptized into the Episcopal Church, which she attended with her family throughout most of her childhood; but she really deepened her spirituality and faith in Jesus Christ as she started at the Naval Academy and committed her life in service to our great nation. She often used prayer and bible readings to comfort friends and family members during challenging times, such as when her mom was diagnosed and being treated for breast cancer in 2009-10 and when her older sister tragically lost her first son and Val's Godson at eight months old in 2011. Everywhere Val lived during flight training, she found a church community to join and serve.