Changes

==Personal life==

==Personal life==

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A native of New Orleans, Villere is one of seven children born to Roger Villere, Sr. (1911–1996),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi|title=Social Security Death Index|publisher=ssdi.rootswebl.ancestry.com|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref> and the former Ursula Wattigny (born November 30, 1918), a graduate of the defunct St. Mary's Dominican College in New Orleans and a schoolteacher. Mrs. Villere was recognized on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the occasion of her ninetieth  birthday by Senator David Vitter. The [[Roman Catholic]] family moved to Metairie in 1955, when Roger was six years of age.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:42:./temp/~r1109BK6Nf:K|title=Tribute to Ursula Villere|publisher=Thomas.loc.gov|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>​

A native of New Orleans, Villere is one of seven children born to Roger Villere, Sr. (1911–1996), and the former Ursula Wattigny (born November 30, 1918), a graduate of the defunct St. Mary's Dominican College in New Orleans and a schoolteacher. Mrs. Villere was recognized on the floor of the U.S. Senate on the occasion of her ninetieth  birthday by Senator David Vitter. The [[Roman Catholic]] family moved to Metairie in 1955, when Roger was six years of age.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:42:./temp/~r1109BK6Nf:K|title=Tribute to Ursula Villere|publisher=Thomas.loc.gov|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>​

In 1967, Villere graduated from the Catholic Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classmates.com/directory/public/memberprofile/list.htm?regId=949915|title=Roger Villere|publisher=classmates.com/directory|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref> After working briefly as a night clerk for the Illinois Central Railroad, the newly married Villere launched his Villere's Florist, a family-owned and operated firm at 1107 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite B, which in 2009 employed fifty persons. Villere is married to the former Donna Gunckel (born ca. 1951), daughter of Joseph P. Gunckel of Franklinton in Washington Parish, and the former Marie Joyce Webre (1926–2002).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/washington/obits/2002/dailynews/oct.txt|title=October 2002 obituaries|publisher=''The Bogalusa Daily News''|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref> Their three sons, Roger, III (born 1970), Mark Charles Villere (born 1973), and Jacques Philip Villere (born 1980), all work in the family business.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.nola.com/elizabethmullener/2008/05/may_brings_sheer_exhaustion_to.html|title=Maria C. Montoya, "May brings sheer exhaustion to the florists enduring the busiest week of the year"|publisher=''New Orleans Times-Picayune,''|date=May 11, 2008|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>​

In 1967, Villere graduated from the Catholic Archbishop Rummel High School in Metairie.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classmates.com/directory/public/memberprofile/list.htm?regId=949915|title=Roger Villere|publisher=classmates.com/directory|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref> After working briefly as a night clerk for the Illinois Central Railroad, the newly married Villere launched his Villere's Florist, a family-owned and operated firm at 1107 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite B, which in 2009 employed fifty persons. Villere is married to the former Donna Gunckel (born ca. 1951), daughter of Joseph P. Gunckel of Franklinton in Washington Parish, and the former Marie Joyce Webre (1926–2002).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/washington/obits/2002/dailynews/oct.txt|title=October 2002 obituaries|publisher=''The Bogalusa Daily News''|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref> Their three sons, Roger, III (born 1970), Mark Charles Villere (born 1973), and Jacques Philip Villere (born 1980), all work in the family business.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.nola.com/elizabethmullener/2008/05/may_brings_sheer_exhaustion_to.html|title=Maria C. Montoya, "May brings sheer exhaustion to the florists enduring the busiest week of the year"|publisher=''New Orleans Times-Picayune,''|date=May 11, 2008|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>​