William Anthony Villella, 63 of West Andover, Ohio passed into the arms of his Savior, surrounded by his family and friends after a long, hard battle with metastatic prostate cancer on Friday January 27, 2012.
Born October 1, 1948 in St. Mary's, Pa., Bill grew up in nearby Emporium. He was the son of the late James Villella (died 1976) and Genevieve Villella. He is survived by his wife Nora Ames Villella, his children - Rachel Villella of Evans City, Pa. and Douglas (Amber) Villella and granddaughter Natalia of Aliquippa, Pa. Also survived by his mother Genevieve of Emporium, Pa. - sisters Patricia Villella, Virginia (Karl) Kelm - and his nephew Brian - all of Erie, Pa., half-brother James (Monica) Ludwig of Keating Summit, Pa., and half sister Marian (Jack) Barrett of Augusta, Ga. - plus numerous nieces and nephews.
Bill's dream of becoming a pharmacist was realized when he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. In 1989, he completed courses at Rorer Managed Care Institute at Kellogg Business School of Northwestern University. He was a licensed, registered pharmacist in New York State as well as in Pennsylvania.
Bill was published for the Evaluation of Warfarin Therapy in a Managed Care Setting in 1996 and for the Pharmacoeconomics of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in a Managed Care Organization along with several of his colleagues. He was employed by Strong Memorial Hospital at the University of Rochester, N.Y. from 1971-1973. While at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, PA 1973 -1975 Bill worked in the capacity of Supervisor of Pharmacy Technicians and IV Additives.
In 1975 Bill met and married Nora Ames of Andover, Ohio. She was one of the IV therapy nurses employed by the hospital and on January 31, 2012 they would have celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary.
From 1975-1992 he was the Associate Director of Pharmacy at Rochester Medical Group Association. In 1992 he accepted and became the Director of Pharmaceutical Services for Health America in Pittsburgh, PA until 1996. From 1996-1998, Bill was employed by Parke-Davis/Warner Lambert as Healthcare Management Senior Medical Liaison. From 1998-2002, Immunex/Amgen hired him as a Senior Manager Medical Liaison where he won several awards including a trip to Rome. Most recently Bill worked for Novartis Pharmaceuticals as Director Managed Market East/South and Therapeutic Team Director Bone/HRT/URO from 2002 until 2011.
His proudest accomplishment was raising two children, his son Douglas A. Villella and Rachel L. Villella and joyfully watching them become responsible adults. Also his granddaughter Natalia born in 2008 was the pride of his golden age and she brought him three years of love and enjoyment. Bill loved kidding and tormenting family, friends and total strangers. His favorite joke to cajole waitresses was to order "a bowl of chicken, easy on the bananas" or tell them their earrings didn't match. He enjoyed winter's arrival to feed the many birds that would frequent his feeders.
Driving his Rhino ATV across the empty fields and railroad tracks was exceptionally fun for him. He especially enjoyed it when accompanied by his cousins, nephews and neighbors. He was an avid weather watcher and was teased constantly by those who knew him that he was a frustrated weatherman and had 'missed his calling'. Semi-annually he would fish with his buddies after driving deep into Canada's interior, and return home with his quota of walleye to prepare a shore dinner for his family. He enjoyed camping in the 5th wheeler he purchased in 1992. He loved target shooting, driving his sport cars, and appreciating the outdoors. But most of all, he loved spending time with his children, grand-child, nieces, nephews, neighbors and church family.
Bill treasured traveling with Nora to Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and most of the United States. They toured Alaska in June and July of 2011 on a land-cruise. He was an avid cook, and attempted to duplicate the many delicious dishes consumed on those trips. Since his illness began, he could be found restoring his 1972 Corvette as well as tidying up and mowing the five acres of the 50 he lived on in Andover, Ohio. He worshipped at Bethel Bible Church in Jefferson, Ohio. for the last 3½ years. He was an extremely generous person, and had many opportunities to help people over the years. He was loved and will be deeply missed.
A funeral service celebrating Bill's life will be held on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 12:00 Noon at Baumgardner Funeral & Cremation Service, 134 Prospect St., Andover, Ohio, with Pastor Joseph Laing of Bethel Bible Church, officiating. Burial will follow in Maple Grove Cemetery, Andover, Ohio. Calling hours will be on Monday, January 30th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the funeral home and also on Tuesday from 11:00 a.m. until the time of service.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Hospice of the Western Reserve, 1166 Lake Ave., Ashtabula, OH 44004. A guestbook with online condolences is available at www.baumgardnerfuneralhome.com
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