Thomas Albert Villa (March 16, 1945 – January 20, 2023) was an American Democratic politician from

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. He was a member of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

and later represented Ward 11, the Carondelet neighborhood and surrounding areas, on the

Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is the lawmaking body of St. Louis, an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It consists of 28 alderpersons who are each elected from one of the city's wards. The President of the Board of Aldermen is a se ...

. Villa was born and raised in St. Louis and is the son of the late Albert "Red" Villa. The elder Villa was the longest-serving member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. He was educated at St. Mary's High School and Saint Louis University and received a master's degree in education from the

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Established in 1963, it is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System and its newest. Located on the former grounds of Bel ...

in 1971. Before starting his political career, Villa worked as a teacher and guidance counselor. Villa was first elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1974. He was re-elected four times and held leadership positions as

Majority Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

from 1978 to 1980 and Majority Floor Leader from 1980 to 1984. In 1984 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Missouri State Treasurer. In 1987, Villa was elected to citywide office as President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. He was reelected to that position in 1991. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

he was a candidate for Mayor of St. Louis but finished second in the Democratic primary behind

Freeman Bosley Jr. Freeman R. Bosley Jr. (born July 20, 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American politician who served as the 43rd mayor of St. Louis (from 1993 to 1997), and the city's first African-American mayor. Early life and education Bosley graduated fro ...

His term as President of the Board expired in 1995, and Villa did not seek re-election. Villa remained out of public office for several years. In 2000 he was again elected to the Missouri House and was re-elected in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He retired from the House in 2008. Villa died on January 20, 2023, at the age of 77.

References

External links

Villa's biography from the Missouri House of Representatives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa, Tom 1945 births 2023 deaths Politicians from St. Louis Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen University of Missouri–St. Louis alumni Saint Louis University alumni School counselors