Irvin Vincent, 71, Luxemburg, died Saturday, September 06, 2003, after
a courageous 20 month battle with Mesothelioma, which is caused by exposure
to asbestos.
Irvin was born to the late Eli and Mary (Nellis) Vincent on January 1,
1932. Irvin is survived by his wife Nancy (Frisque); two sons; Vern and
Jennifer (Gregorich) Vincent, Atlanta, GA; Lynie (Lonnie) and Michelle
(Jubert) Vincent, New Franken; three grandchildren ; Andrew, Jakob, and
Madison; two sisters Rosie (Myron) Janik of Lena; and Grace (Raymond)
Kassner of Green Bay; sister-in-law Rosella (Adams) Vincent of Casco.
His brother Edsel preceded him in death in 2001. Irvin was a member of
St. Mary's Catholic Church in Luxemburg and the American Legion Ralph
Kline Post 262 Luxemburg.
Irvin was a very active man all of his life. He graduated from Luxemburg
High School in 1950. He joined the Air Force during the Korean War and
served most of his duty in Europe after being trained in crypto analysis
in the United States. Irvin was a key player in breaking a very important
foreign code while stationed overseas, and reported to the NSA. When he
returned from Europe in 1955, he met Nancy Frisque and they were married
June 14, 1958. Irvin and Nancy celebrated 45 years of marriage this year.
Upon his honorable discharge as SSGT from the Air Force, Irvin worked his
way through Badger Business College to become a cost accountant. He held
two different accounting jobs before starting his pride and joy, N.E.W.
Plastics Corp. in 1968. He and Nancy continued to grow and nurture this
business until his illness took him away for medical reasons in January
of 2002. N.E.W. Plastics has grown to include three plants and employs
over 220 people.
In the early 1970's Irvin, a true entrepreneur, had the brainstorm
of recycling plastic milk containers and making plastic lumber out of
the reclaimed material. Irvin spawned a complete new industry and many
new markets with this new process of making Plastic Lumber. Renew Plastics
has grown substantially since its inception, and continues its growth
and market leadership in this highly vibrant industry.
Along the way Irvin became involved with The Bank of Luxemburg, and was
voted onto the bank board of directors in January 1976. He was the bank's
President from October 1990 until January 1994. He became the Chairman
of the Board of the bank in January 1986, and still held this position
at the time of his death. He continued to attend board meetings thru July
2003. Irvin was instrumental in the growth of the bank as well as keeping
the bank locally owned and operated in times of massive bank consolidation.
This allowed the bank to better serve and understand the local clientele
needs within the community.
Irvin was also involved in East Shore Industries in Algoma, WI. He truly
believed in helping people through this organization, and was very involved
with fund raising activities for the benefit of East Shore's handicapped
and underprivileged people. Irvin was involved in many other businesses,
advisory boards, committees, board of directors, Luxemburg and Green Bay
Area Chamber of Commerce as well as many charities.
Irvin was also recognized many times during his life by state and local
organizations. He recently received the Green Bay Press Gazette's
"Everyday Hero" award for 2002. He has been recognized and awarded
citations by Senators and Representatives for his continued devotion to
improving the environment through his recycling efforts. The Luxemburg
Chamber of Commerce also named him "Man of the Year" in 1984
for his continued community involvement in Luxemburg and he received a
Distinguished Alumni Award from Luxemburg-Casco High School. Irvin was
also an American Legion Firing Squad member, an advisor to the WI Job
Training Partnership Act, a founding member of the Luxemburg area Ducks
Unlimited as well as a founding member of North Brook Country Club in
Luxemburg.
Irvin also liked to spend time with his family and grandchildren, as well
as golfing, attending Packer Games, fishing, hunting, playing cards, going
to their cottage, bowling, and spending time with his favorite fish in
his pond at his residence.
Visitation will be held at McMahon Funeral Home, 530 Main Street, Luxemburg,
from 2 to 8 PM, Tuesday, September 9
th. American Legion service at 6:15PM Tuesday, and Parish Wake service at
6:30 PM. Visitation will continue at 9:45 AM September 10, at St Mary's
Catholic Church, 1412 Main St., Luxemburg, WI, where a funeral service
will be held at 11:00 AM with Rev. Milton M. Suess, officiating. Military
Rites will follow the funeral service at the church. Entombment in the
Shrine of the Good Shepherd Mausoleum, Bay Settlement Road.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to a memorial fund in
Irvin's name at the Bank of Luxemburg to be used for Irvin's favorite
charities, projects and organizations. The Bank of Luxemburg's address
is 630 Main Street, PO Box 440, Luxemburg, WI 54217-0440. Phone 920-845-2345.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to all of the family,
friends, and co-workers that were so supportive and helpful throughout
Irvin's sickness. A very special thank you also goes out to the wonderful
ninth floor staff at St. Vincent's Hospital, Dr. Bayer and staff at
Green Bay Oncology, and Unity Hospice for doing such a great job during
a very difficult time. Also thanks go out to Dr. Volgelzang and his staff
at the University of Chicago Hospital for their continued work and hopeful
success on finding a cure for Mesothelioma.
Irvin will be missed greatly by all of the people that he has touched.
It is not often that an Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and a devoted Family
man as busy as he was, always had time to help out just one more person.
He was truly, one of a kind.
May God Bless you on your journey!
In December of 2001, Irvin developed a cold that he could not shake. He
went to his primary physician, who had a chest film taken. The film indicated
there was fluid on the lung. The doctor believed that Irvin had an infection
and prescribed antibiotics and sent him home
When Irvin's symptoms did not improve, a second chest film was taken,
which revealed the amount of fluid seemed to have increased. He was referred
to another physician and underwent a thoracentesis. Approximately one
pint of fluid was removed. A second thoracentesis later yielded approximately
one liter of fluid.
On January 24, 2002, Irvin underwent an open lung biopsy at the Aurora
BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay. Some of the lower right lobe and
pulmonary ligament node were removed, and during the procedure, spots
on the diaphragm, lining and the entire right lung were observed. Through
immunohistochemical staining, Irvin received the bad news with a diagnosis
of malignant mesothelioma, epithelial type.
After a life of steadily climbing, Irvin refused to lay down. He traveled
to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he consulted with oncologist
Dr. Randolph Marks, and thoracic surgeon, Dr. Claude Deschamps. Both physicians
felt that Irvin was an excellent candidate for the most aggressive treatment
available at Mayo - three cycles of chemotherapy to de-bulk the cancer,
followed by surgery to remove all seen cancer, rounded out with a series
of radiation treatments.