Kathleen L. Villette

Kathleen “Kathy” Louise Villette, 78, passed away on August 25th, 2023. Kathy was born on January 6th, 1945, to Mary Lou (Dolliff) and Leland (Jack) McGrew.

She graduated from Austin High School in 1963 and Rockford College in 1967. She taught Kindergarten at Roosevelt and Kennedy Elementary in Minnesota from 1967-1976. After being a stay-at-home mom, she became the librarian for the Great River Regional Library-Albany Branch in Albany, MN until 1998. In 1998, she moved to Chicago, Illinois to attain her Master of Science Degree in Library and Information Science at Dominican University. She started working for the Chicago Public Library as a Children’s Librarian in 1998 and was with the library for 24 years before she retired in 2022.

She spent several years with the Minnesota Center Chorale, First United Methodist Church, and PEO. You could always be assured to get a text, call, or email of a new children’s book, random fact about any topic under the sun. Jokes you would roll your eyes to, or photos of her flowers, trips & dinners with her Rockford College friends, and library presentations for the kids. She loved laying under the stars watching the Perseid Meteors, supermoons, listening to loons, and being outdoors whenever she could. She had a laugh that was contagious and made sure to sing whenever she could, no matter where she was at. She loved children’s books, putting together summer reading programs, having story hours, and kids loving to read as much as she did.

She is survived by her two sisters, Gini (Bill) Blunden and Terry Truesdell; four children, Natasha Villette (Justin Smelter), Maya (Eli) Mackereth, Benjamin, and Aaron (Cassie Rumpf); nieces, Maren Flynn and Melissa (Bobby) Mangiameli; Nephews, Chris (Karen) Truesdell, Matthew, Peter, and Kyle (Alexandra) Flynn, and Nick Blunden. 10 wonderful grandchildren she always bragged about and made sure to show them off often to friends and coworkers, Tanner, Aysha, Bailey, Isabella, Logan, Olivia Lou, Charlie, Addison, Jack, and Belle.

Her parents, sister Margo Flynn, and brother-in-law Ken Lerczak preceded her in death.

There will be a private memorial service that will be determined at a later date.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the following notating Kathy’s Name:

Rockford University Advancement Office

Minnesota Center Chorale

Great River Regional Library