William Costa Jr. St. Johnsbury has lost one of its hardest
working and most dedicated citizens. 1982 Citizen of the Year,
bank director, Democratic activist, and businessman William T.
"Billy" Costa Jr., 74, passed away of congestive heart failure in
Ft. Myers, Fla., Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006. He was born in St.
Johnsbury on June 9, 1932, the elder of two sons born to
William Sr. and Almina (Bottazzi) Costa. He married Gay
Buttura on Jan. 25, 1964. He is survived by his wife, Gay, of St.
Johnsbury (1248 Hospital Dr. 05819); his brother, Orlando
Costa and his wife Francine of Naples Fla.; three daughters,
Kelli Costa and her husband Nick Johnson of Maynard, Mass.,
Kara Nichols and her husband Mark of Waltham, Mass., and
Kiersten Ely and her husband Stefan of Spartensburg S.C.; two
grandchildren, Quinton and Sheridan Ely; and Kara's
stepchildren, Darren, Cassandra and Rebecca Nichols. A
graduate of St. Johnsbury Academy, Class of 1951, Billy
graduated cum laude from Notre Dame University in 1956 with
a bachelor of science degree in business administration. At
Notre Dame he became a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon
(SAE) fraternity. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, he
served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1956-58, stationed in
Metz, France, as commanding officer of the Property Disposal
Unit. In Mr. Costa's business career, he was president of Costa
Realty, Inc. d/b/a Gold Crown Lanes (1962-present); and of
Recreation, Inc., the commercial building housing The Star
Theater (1973-present). Billy entered the family business, the
former Green Mountain Fruit IGA store on Railroad Street; the
store closed Oct. 1, 1995. He was a partner with Harvey Caplan 1968-1978,
and Harvey's father before him, Joseph Caplan 1959-1968.
Mr. Costa also was a trustee and partner of Green
Mountain Realty Trust d/b/a/ Green Mountain Mall. He was an
extremely active director of Citizens Savings Bank and Trust
Company and, since 1999, had served on the Union Bank's
board of directors. Civically, Mr. Costa was instrumental in the
formation and operation of the St. Johnsbury Development
Fund Inc. of which he was president from 1988-99. He served
on various boards with the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, Fairbanks
Museum, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital and the
Vermont Retail Grocer's Association. Billy served as tri-
chairman of the Fairbanks Morse Drive, a community drive in
the 1960s that raised over half a million dollars to keep
Fairbanks in St. Johnsbury. He was a member of the
administrative board of St. Johnsbury/Lyndon Industrial Park,
director of Lyndon State College 1985-91, St. Johnsbury school
director 1986-87, and a trustee of the village of St. Johnsbury 1964-66;
he helped consolidate the town and village into one
political unit. Politically a strong Democrat, Billy served as
Democratic Committeeman from Caledonia County from 1965-71
and Chairman of the Democratic Town Committee from 1965-69.
He served as Northeast Kingdom campaign manager
for Gov. Philip Hoff (1962 and 1964) and for Gov. Thomas
Salmon (1972 and 1974). Gov. Salmon appointed him to the
Vermont State Highway board, then reappointed him as a
member of the Vermont Transportation Board. He fought hard
for the completion of I-91 and I-93 and for a better route to
Montpelier. Gov. Snelling appointed him to the Vermont
Community Development Board, agency of development and
community affairs. A funeral Mass will be celebrated in St.
Johnsbury on Saturday at 1 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist
Church, located on Main Street. Burial will be at Mt. Calvary
Cemetery at a later date. Visiting hours will be held at the
Sayles Funeral Home on Friday from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Memorial
contributions may be directed to St. Johnsbury Academy, P.O.
Box 906, St. Johnsbury VT 05819.
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