Bozeman, MT- John Patrick Villar left us Wednesday October 5, 2016. He was 55 years old.

He was born May 5, 1961 in Lansing, Michigan to James and Jeanne (Knight) Villar. Growing up in the UP inspired in John a lifelong admiration for the great outdoors. Of course, an inherent and passionate devotion to the Packers also resulted from his UP upbringing. After graduating from high school in Hudson, Ohio, where he played football and wrestled, John migrated west to attend school in Wyoming. John played halfback for University of Wyoming during his junior and senior years. In addition, John played on the rugby team, which is where he met his lifelong best friend, Christopher Hawks. He graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1985. Immediately upon graduation, John was recruited as a Field Engineer by Schlumberger, where he quickly rose through the ranks and ultimately retired as Operations Manager. His 20-year career with Schlumberger took him all over the US and far beyond, including stints in Louisiana, Malaysia, Holland, France, Nigeria, Norway, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Denmark, Afghanistan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brunei, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. John culminated his career with Schlumberger as Operations Manager of the largest producing oil field in the world, the Tengiz Oil Field in Kazakhstan.

After retiring from Schlumberger, John took a position as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for US-based EnerCrest, where he was also a founding shareholder. John then moved into consulting and contracted with companies and government branches including the US Department of Defense and US Aid. The majority of John's recent work was concentrated on emerging energy markets in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. He traveled extensively to Afghanistan and communicated with high-ranking officials as well as with US Officials, tirelessly pursuing energy security goals. In addition to his demanding professional consulting schedule, John wrote articles and secured numerous patents. As a result of his tireless work, he was proud to have secured the first drop of oil in Afghanistan being produced since the Russian invasion in 1978.

In the spring of 1995, while he was stationed in New Orleans, John married his college sweetheart and Norwegian native Grethe-Lise Hagensen. They remained married until his passing. To this union two precious daughters were born; Embla came into this world in Oslo, Norway in 1995 and Bjørk completed the family in 1997 while they were living in Bergen, Norway.

John and his young family set down roots in Tromsø, Norway, the home-town of Grethe, while John continued to travel the world for work. When it was time to start school for the girls, the family decided that they would explore what it would be like to live back in the United States. Based on prior experiences in the Montana Mountains and family friendships, the Villar family picked Bozeman, Montana as their home base. Here, they continued to raise their family, only broken off by a couple of years in Tromsø, Norway.

In the midst of traveling the world and raising a family, John managed to squeeze in adventures ranging from climbing 8000 meter peaks to running 100 mile races. Never one to pass up an opportunity for an outdoor adventure, John would fly in from the other side of the world to be part of the camaraderie of close friends and savor the adrenaline that would feed his insatiable appetite for excitement.

Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, skiing the Haute Route in the Alps, climbing Granite Peak in Montana, the Grand Teton in Wyoming, scaling Cotopaxi in Ecuador and Aconcagua in Argentina, the tallest peak in the Western hemisphere, diving for lobster in the frigid North Sea in the middle of winter, completing the Leadville 100 mile trail run, backcountry skiing in La Grave, France, climbing onto the precipitous Kjerag rock in Southern Norway, proudly finishing the Rotterdam marathon in 2:59 after coming in 3:01 the year prior, completing the Bighorn 50 mile in Sheridan, Wyoming multiple times; all cherished memories used to feed John's talent for storytelling that would greatly amuse family, neighbors and friends.

John belonged to a Bozeman book-club consisting of fellow intellectuals, where books on topics from philosophy to politics to science were discussed with bravado and arguments countered with impressive insight and analysis. Never one to back down from a discussion, John always left the impression that the rest of us needed to think deeper and study more carefully before we expressed an opinion.

John is survived by his wife Grethe and daughters Embla and Bjørk, his parents James (Mary) Villar and Jeanne (Joe Lichterman) Knight, brother Tom (Dee) Villar, sister Sabina (Greg) Casperson, brother Jeff Vorzimmer (Ann Leist), brother Mark (Jaime) Vorzimmer, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Bridger Ski Foundation in Bozeman, MT, or a charity of your choice in John's name.

A celebration of Life will be held Friday, December 30, 2016 at the Bjork & Zhulkie Funeral Home, where the family will greet relatives and friends from 3:00-4:00pm with a time of sharing memories at 4:00pm.

John's obituary may also be viewed at bjorkandzhulkie.com

The funeral service recording, when it becomes available, can be found here .