Ronald Vincent Villafranco

Lt. Col. Villafranco, a native of the Bronx, N.Y., was born August 3, 1934, one of eight children born to John Villafranco, Sr., a construction worker, and his wife Virginia Arena. He graduated from Fordham University in New York and entered military service in 1956. He was initially assigned to Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts and later served as a navigation instructor at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO before being deployed to Vietnam, where he served with distinction as a navigator on combat missions. In 1968, he received his M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Prior to retiring from the U.S. Air Force in 1978, Lt. Col. Villafranco served at the Pentagon. Following retirement from the military, he commenced a second career in government service, working at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as a Senior Program Analyst. He retired in 2005.

Lt. Colonel Villafranco married Virginia (Ginny) Meyers, in 1963. They lived in Colorado Springs, CO and Newport News, VA, before settling in Falls Church, VA in the early 1970s. She died in 1999.

Ron later married his longtime friend, companion, and sweetheart, Barbara L.S. Piquet, who survives him. Together they enjoyed the arts and they traveled the world together. Lt. Col. Villafranco is also survived by his brother, William Villafranco, of Nanuet, New York and wife Dora; Howard Piquet Jr. of Texas, brother of Barbara; sisters-in-law, Markell Meyers Shriver of Princeton, N.J., and Catherine Villafranco of Arlington, MA; and several Villafranco and Piquet family nieces and nephews.

Lt. Col. Villafranco was a lover of the arts, regularly attending Kennedy Center and Bach Consort events. He was an avid traveler and car enthusiast, and he enjoyed walking outdoors. He had a refined sensitivity to the beauty in music and the world around him. He was perhaps most happy when his passions could be combined, on summer nights at Tanglewood and Wolf Trap, listening to classical music, symphony orchestras, as well as contemporary country, jazz, and pop music.

Lt. Colonel Villafranco will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his honor to the Bach Consort, the Parkinson Foundation of the National Capital Area (PFNCA), and the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.