After Lynette Villano sat down for an interview with national journalist Ben Bradlee Jr., he featured her in a chapter of his book and later penned an online column about her titled, “I found Trump’s biggest fan.”
Before her time in the national limelight following the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, Villano made a name for herself in Republican politics on the local level.
A state committee woman for decades, she made history in 1999 when she was elected as the first woman chair of the Luzerne County Republican Party.
Villano died Monday at Little Flower Manor in Wilkes-Barre following a long battle with breast cancer. She was 80.
“We’re sorry to say we lost a great woman and one of the most dedicated people who have ever served this party,” the county Republican Party wrote in a Facebook post.
Lee Ann McDermott, the current county GOP chair and second woman to hold the position, described Villano as a “great mentor.”
“She was a wealth of knowledge and experience in the party. She will be missed by everyone. See was a tough, hard worker. She was involved right up into the end. No matter how bad she was feeling, she would participate,” McDermott said.
In addition to politics, Villano dedicated herself to local public service, first in the business office of West Pittston Borough and later as a customer service representative for the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority. She also served as a board secretary of the Luzerne County Transportation Authority.
“I adored Lynette. She will go down in the history books,” said Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Tony Brooks, who was treasurer of the Luzerne County Republican Party when Villano was chair.
In Bradlee’s book, “The Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America,” he led the chapter “Trump Women” with his interview with Villano.
“I came out for Trump the day he came down that escalator in Trump Tower,” Villano told Bradlee.
Bradlee later penned a column for Politico.com adapted from book excerpts detailing why Villano supported Trump despite his flaws and controversies and how it led to a rift with her grandson and other family members.
While best known for her politics, Villano was well known for the life she and her husband built in West Pittston.
Brooks noted West Pittston was “the center of Lynette’s world, her home, her workplace, and the community she gave so much of herself to serve.”
Former West Pittston Mayor Bill Goldsworthy, a fellow Republican, said Villano was devoted to West Pittston.
“She was a great lady. She was involved in the Republican Party basically her whole life. She was very dedicated to the community. Whenever we did anything in the community she always lent a helping hand. Anytime we wanted to do something to help the community she was there to help,” Goldsworthy said. “A very good West Pittstonian. I’m very sorry to hear she had health problems and passed away.”