Joseph Villella

Mundwiler and Larson Funeral Home of Ortonville announces the death of Joseph Villella, age 80, of Ortonville, Minnesota. Memorial services will be held 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at the United Methodist Church in Ortonville. Visitation will be on Tuesday, December 18, from 5 – 7 p.m. with a prayer service starting at 7:00 at the Mundwiler and Larson Funeral Home in Ortonville. Visitation will continue at the church one hour before the service. Burial will be in Mound Cemetery.

Joseph John Villella was born August 24, 1932 in Union City, New Jersey. He was the son of Artilio Ralph Villella and Josephine (Jay) Villella.

Joe received most of his schooling in Union City and West New York, New Jersey. During his high school years in New Jersey, Joe was an accomplished violinist in the orchestra, boxed in golden glove competitions, and was a member of the U.S. Navel Sea Scouts. In 1949, the family relocated to Berlin, Connecticut where Joe graduated from Berlin High School.

In September of 1950 Joe enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. After training he served as a radar technician until his discharge in September 1953. At that time he moved to Cooperstown, North Dakota to be with his fiancee, Nadine Rose Paintner, whom he met while in the service. Joe and Nadine were married June 5, 1954 in Cooperstown, North Dakota.

In Cooperstown he was employed at Hagen Electric and TV as a repairman and journeyman electrician. In 1958 he purchased the business and operated it until 1962. While in Cooperstown Joe was an active golfer playing in many tournaments through out the state and won many trophies and awards. During this time he also owned and operated the local Golf Pro Shop. In 1961 Joe injured his arm and quit being active participant in the sport.

In 1962 Joe and his family moved to Ortonville, Minnesota where he had accepted an offer to work as a TV technician for Kiernats Inc.

In 1974 Joe purchased the TV and Appliance business from Ed Kiernat. Ed was devoting most of his time to Community Cable Co. which he had started in 1963 and other cable activities through out the industry. Joe operated his business as Downtown TV and Appliance until January 1980.

At that time Ed Kiernat had sold Community Cable to Telecommunications Inc. (TCI), and Joe received the opportunity to manage it for them. From 1980 through 1996 Joe was the general manager of 7 cities in Minnesota and South Dakota. In December 1996 TCI reorganized and Joe was given the choice of relocating or retiring. He retired then at the age of 64. After sitting around for the next couple of months Joe decided that being a "couch potato" was not for him!

In March 1997 he started working part time for S&R distributing of Brookings, South Dakota, filling and repairing vending machines through out the area. This company was then purchased by Pepsi America and he continued to work for them through 2003. At age 72 he still wasn't ready to sit and relax, so in April of 2004 he went back to work part time at Holiday Inc. in Ortonville.

While in Ortonville Joe took pride in being a member of the Fire Department from 1963 to 1985 and a member of the EMT squad for 6 years. For 43 years Joe enjoyed volunteering his time serving corn at the Ortonville Corn Festival.

Left with his loving memory are his wife, Nadine of Ortonville; daughter, Susan (Bill) Kleespie of Morris MN; son, Mark (Nina) Villella of Auburn, VA; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; brother, Philip (Lois) Villella of Salisbury, MD; brother-in-law, Dennis (JoAn) Paintner of West Fargo, ND; sister-in-law Dianna Weber of Pharr, TX; and uncle, Alfred Latronico of Hillsdale, NJ.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents and his son, Steven.