Jay Villemarette

Jay Villemarette (pronounced ˈvɪləmərɛt) is the owner, founder and president of both Skulls Unlimited International, Inc. and SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology.[2]

Jay Villemarette
OccupationEntrepreneur
TitleFounder, president and CEO of

Skulls Unlimited International, Inc.

Museum of Osteology &

SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology
Spouse(s)Kim Villemarette[1] (m. 1985)
Children4
Websiteskeletonmuseum.com skullsunlimited.com

Early life

His interest in skulls began in 1972 at 7 years of age, when he found a dog skull in the woods near his house in Levittown, Pennsylvania.[1][3] After encouragement by his father, he began collecting skulls.[3] After moving to Moore, Oklahoma, Villemarette continued collecting skulls.[1] As his interest grew, neighbors and friends began bringing him carcasses of interesting animals that they had found.[1] During this time, he tested many methods of removing the soft tissue from the bones, including burning, acid, and boiling the bones before discovering dermestid beetles.[1] Villemarette graduated from Moore High School before attending Moore-Norman Technology Center in Entrepreneurship.[4] Before founding Skulls Unlimited, he worked as an auto-body mechanic.[2]

Career

Skulls Unlimited International

After finishing high school, Villemarette began cleaning and selling skulls as a side job.[2] After losing his job as an auto-body mechanic, he decided to try selling skulls as a full time occupation.[2] He began by creating a printed list of skulls for sale in 1985.[1] In 1986, Skulls Unlimited was founded as a provider of osteological specimens.[5] Skulls Unlimited International, Inc. is now the premier provider of osteological specimens to nature centers, museums, medical schools, and films.[1] All of Jay's sons still work for Skulls Unlimited International, Inc., as well as his nephew Joey Villemarette.[6]

Skulls Unlimited International, Inc. not only sources their specimens, they still also process the carcasses using the methods Jay perfected in his adolescence.[7] This process begins with removing the majority of the soft tissue from the carcasses by hand.[1] Then two methods are used to detail clean the skulls: dermestid beetles and maceration.[7] After that, skulls are whitened with Hydrogen Peroxide[8] and articulated by running hardware through the bones.[1][9]

Museum of Osteology

In 2010, Villemarette opened the Museum of Osteology in South Oklahoma City, which holds over 300 skeletons on display.[10] The 7,000 square foot space holds specimens like a 40 foot long humpback whale and the skull of a rare Javan rhinoceros.[8] He developed the museum primarily in hopes of it being utilized as an educational tool.[3] The Museum of Osteology shares its space with Skulls Unlimited International, Inc.'s business office and is adjacent to the processing center.[8]

SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology

After success of the Oklahoma City museum, Villemarette opened a second, larger site in Orlando, Florida in May 2015, this one holding 500 skeletons.[11] The specimens on display include an 11 foot tall African bush elephant and a Sumatran rhinoceros.[11] Villemarette considered other locations for his second museum, including Las Vegas, before deciding on Orlando.[12]

Television appearances

Interest in his business has generated multiple media visits, and Villemarette has appeared in many television shows, including Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe.[13]

Television Appearances
Title Year Role Comments
Modern Marvels 2013 Himself Episode: "Strangest Countdown"[13]
Taboo 2012 Himself Episode: "Living with the Dead"[6][13]
Auction Kings 2012 Himself Episode: "Les Paul Guitar/Giant Bat"[13]
Modern Marvels 2011 Himself Episode: "Built by Hand"[13]
Weird, True & Freaky 2010 Himself Episode: "Eternally Stuffed"[13]
Dirty Jobs 2006 Himself Episode: "Skull Cleaner"[7][13]
Ripley's Believe It or Not! 2001 Himself Episode: "Skull Supplier"[13]

Private life

Villemarette met his future wife, Kim Villemarette, when they were in high school.[9] They married in 1985.[1] Together they have 4 children, including three sons: Jay Jr., Josh, and Jaron, and a daughter: Shala.[6] All of Villemarette's sons are involved with the business and all of his children have participated in processing carcasses for the company from a young age.[6]

References
  1. Urstadt, Bryant. "I'm Going to Rib-Cage World". Outside Online. Outside. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  2. "Life as a skull cleaner is a messy job". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  3. Gray, Aaron Wright. "Villemarette gets the skeletons out of the closet". Norman Transcript. Norman Transcript. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  4. Aguilar, Anna. "Skeleton museum opens". The Moore American. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  5. "Where 'how greasy human is' is part of the job". NBC News. NBC. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  6. "Living with the Dead". Taboo. Season 9. Episode 9. June 17, 2012. National Geographic. National Geographic.
  7. ""Skull Cleaner"". Dirty Jobs. Season 2. Episode 13. July 11, 2006. Discovery Channel.
  8. "Museum of Osteology and Skulls Unlimited". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  9. "Pilot". Skeleton, Inc. 2011. Hoff Productions. Netflix.
  10. Mentesana, Marie. ""The hip bone's connected to the ..." Find out the answer at the Museum of Osteology". Red Dirt Report. Red Dirt Report. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  11. "Skeletons: Museum of Osteology". Atlas Obscura. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  12. Aguilar, Anna. "Oklahomans open skeleton museum in Orlando". Norman Transcript. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  13. "Jay Villemarette". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
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