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, \u201cI found Trump\u2019s biggest fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Villano died Monday at Little Flower Manor in Wilkes-Barre following a long battle with breast cancer. She was 80.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sorry to say we lost a great woman and one of the most dedicated people who have ever served this party,\u201d the county Republican Party wrote in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n
Lee Ann McDermott, the current county GOP chair and second woman to hold the position, described Villano as a \u201cgreat mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe 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,\u201d McDermott said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI adored Lynette. She will go down in the history books,\u201d said Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Tony Brooks, who was treasurer of the Luzerne County Republican Party when Villano was chair.<\/p>\n
In Bradlee\u2019s book, \u201cThe Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America,\u201d he led the chapter \u201cTrump Women\u201d with his interview with Villano.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came out for Trump the day he came down that escalator in Trump Tower,\u201d Villano told Bradlee.<\/p>\n