Jay Villemarette

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. With encouragement from his father, he began collecting skulls, Before founding Skulls Unlimited, he worked as an auto-body mechanic. Jay's sons and nephew also work for Skulls Unlimited International.

Skulls Unlimited International source and process animal carcasses before sale. This process begins with removing the majority of the soft tissue from the carcasses by hand.

Museum of Osteology

In 2010, Villemarette opened the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City, which holds over 300 skeletons on display, including the skeletons of animals such as a humpback whale and the skull of a rare Javan rhinoceros. Villemarette developed the museum primarily in hopes of it being utilized as an educational tool. Villemarette considered other locations for his second museum, including Las Vegas, before deciding on Orlando. The Florida museum closed in 2020, and its collection was combined with that of the Oklahoma museum.

Personal life Villemarette met his wife, Kim Villemarette, when they were in high school. They married in 1985. Together they have 4 children, three sons and a daughter. 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.