Reverend Richard Villano

Reverend Richard Villano, the 89-year-old pastor emeritus of the Church of St. Helena, Minneapolis, died peacefully on Thanksgiving morning, November 25, 2021, at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis.  He served the St. Helena parish for 43 years from 1978 to June 30, 2021, when he was named pastor emeritus.

Born on June 2, 1932, Father Villano grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and attended the Crosier Father’s high school seminary in Onamia, Minnesota.  He finished his seminary studies at the Crosier Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was ordained a priest on May 31, 1958, for the Crosier order by Bishop Leo Pursely of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.

He taught as a Crosier Father in their seminaries and later completed a Master degree in French from the University of Notre Dame.  He was assigned to serve as an associate pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church in St. Anthony, Minnesota, from 1970 to 1978, when he was appointed to the Church of St. Helena, Minneapolis, and began the process of incardination into the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a diocesan priest.

Fr. Villano is survived by two sisters and brothers-in-law:  Joanne and Richard Vetter of Mankato, Minnesota, and Rosemary and Thomas Kipka of Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. He is preceded in death by his father and mother, Rocco and Hilda Villano, and his twin brother, Micheal. He has numerous nieces and nephews.

The funeral arrangements will include a prayer vigil at the Church of St. Helena, East 43rd Street and 32nd Avenue South, Minneapolis on Thursday, December 2, beginning at 5:00 P.M. with Evening Prayer at 5:30 P.M. and Night Prayer at 8:00 P.M. followed by an all-night vigil until 9:00 A.M. on Friday when the visitation will take place in Rowan Hall (the lower level of the church). Morning Prayer will be prayed in the Church at 8:00 A.M. on Friday morning. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 A.M. on Friday, December 3, followed by a luncheon and burial at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.

In lieu of flowers, donations are preferred to the Fr. Richard Villano Scholarship Fund of St. Helena Catholic Grade School.