Vince was an
upstate New York boy, born in Amsterdam, New York, who started his higher
education at Niagara College. After a
year at Niagara, he joined the Navy, was selected to attend NAPS and entered
the Naval Academy. Vince took Academy
life in stride. He enjoyed company sports and periodic bridge games and was
generally “unflappable“. On graduation,
Vince headed for Pensacola and on completion of flight training served in
patrol squadrons flying out of Rota, Spain and Jacksonville, FL.
Vince left the
Navy, to start a career with the State of Connecticut Labor Department and
raise a family in the Hartford, Connecticut area. Vince had married the love of his life,
Winifred Fitzpatrick, in 1956, and over the years they raised six children who
now with their families reside in New York, Connecticut, North Carolina, and
Ireland. Vince was active in St. Thomas
the Apostle Church in West Hartford and the Irish American Club in Glastonbury. Vince died at Hartford Hospital on 5 August
1997, and was interred at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield.