| Wilburn Glenwood "Hap" Vincent b. 28 Jul 1919 Talladega, Talladega, Alabama, United States m. 15 Oct 1940 Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama, United States Doris Virginia Warren d. 5 Jan 1993 Fairfield, Jefferson, Alabama, United States of accute myocardial infarction 3 Children: Rick, Larry, Ron 14 Grandchildren, 40+ great-grandchildren (as of 2013) Military: U.S. Navy WWII (in both the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific) Education: 2 years of college Career: U.S. steel 1941~1976, supervisor Hap Vincent was given the name "Wilburn" after his great-uncle Wilbourn Vincent who was killed by a falling tree limb while riding a horse. As a child, he was always happy, hence the nickname, "Hap." His career was as a steel worker but the most important thing in his life was his family. Hap began at U.S. Steel, then called the Tennessee, Coal, and Iron Company, during WWII. Because he was a steel worker, he was draft deferred until he led a wildcat strike. Such union activities were frowned upon during the war years. His draft deferment was cancelled. Military Rather than be drafted into the Army, he chose to enlist in the U.S. Navy and served as regular Navy, a gunner's mate, in defense of the Merchant Marine. These were merchant ships used to transport war materials to Europe. They were affixed with deck guns to defend against German submarines. As such they were basically sitting ducks waiting for the first sub in their path to sink them. Many of these ships were sunk and the crew lost at sea. Hap didn't have enough "points" to be discharged when VE Day was declared. He was sent to the Pacific. Occupation Upon his discharge after VJ Day, he returned to his job at U.S. steel as a millright. He was eventually promoted to foreman. Click HERE for a November 1966 photo of Hap and his fellow supervisors at U.S. Steel and HERE for the names of those in the photo. Hap is seated in the first row, 3rd from the Right. Hobbies When our parents died, there was a small coin collection that I inherited. CLICK HERE for the details. Although he had few hobbies, Hap loved to travel. He visited Europe, Hawaii, Canada, most of the U.S.A., and loved Mexico. He visited Mexico more than a dozen times during his lifetime. He made his first trip there in the summer of 1956 on a short, 2 week vacation from Alabama to Mexico City and back. With him were his wife, his oldest sister Celia, his 3 sons, luggage, and some groceries, packed in a 1955 Ford. He couldn't speak a word of Spanish at the time although he later became fluent in the language. A funny story about that trip was when he was trying to find the Hotel Geneve (pronouced "HEN-a-vah"). Traffic in Mexico City was a nightmare. People would tend to ignore both traffic signals, the police, and other vehicles. Hap couldn't find his way and finally pulled over to ask a well dressed gentleman as best he could. He only knew a little Italian and perhaps a half dozen Spanish words. As he stumbled through his request for directions, the man looked very puzzled obviously not clearly understanding Hap's broken Spanish. When finally Hap mentioned the Hotel's name, the man's face lit up and in perfect English he replied, "Oh, yeah, the Hotel Geneve, I know where that's at." Then he gave the directions easily. We all laughed when we realized the man spoke our language. Here's a photo of both families on that vacation (HERE). Another vacation photo of Hap's sons, nephew, and niece with some native children (HERE). A final 1956 photo (HERE) of two of Hap's sons in front of the Pyramid of the Sun in the ancient Aztec city just outside Mexico City (thanks to cousin Judy for providing the photos). He also enjoyed doing writing poetry, visiting his early childhood homes his family, and family research. For more about Family Research, CLICK HERE. Hap had a diligent work ethic. He helped build his father's log home when he was 17. Click HERE for a photo. He built his on home in 1950 from the ground up by cutting timber from 2 acres of land and exchanging it for seasoned lumber. He dug the footing, the septic tank, and field lines by hand with a pick and shovel in soil so hard you could see sparks fly with each stroke. All the construction was done by himself, with help from his brother-in-law, John Farris, except for the cabinetry which his brother Sam Vincent built. At his death he left behind numerous family and friends who loved him dearly and remember him with fondness decades later. For more about Hap's life with his wife and children, click the link to his wife Doris Virginia Warren. June 29th, 2013, 3 of Hap's grandsons and a great-grandson visited the Vincent graves in Bessemer, Alabama. Click HERE for a photo. -Ron.V Follow the hyperlinks on this page for Hap's wife Doris and other info on Hap's family. Family Research Hap's son, Ron Vincent, became interested in family research as a young teen from the research Hap had done. He showed his pedigrees to his children often. It fascinated Ron. Wilburn Glenwood "Hap" Vincent, began doing family research a few years before Ron was born. Perhaps Hap became interested in family research in 1942 when his cousin Maud Kelly called upon Hap's parents to show her the location of John Vincent's grave. Maud documented that 1942 visit in two letters HERE and HERE.
Hap visited his parents often after he married in 1940. His oldest son, Rick and Rick's 1st cousins later told Ron how Hap's parents Oakley and Oma Vincent often invited their children to visit them at their log cabin in Calera, Alabama, and how they all ate big dinners around a large, homemade table. By November 1942 when Oakley and Oma visited Maud Kelly and her brother Richard, Hap was working at U.S. Steel. He didn't enter the Navy until near the end of WWII and could visit his parents often during most of the war. News of Oakley and Oma's visit with cousins Maud and Richard Kelly was an event they would have discussed. It may be what sparked Hap's interest in later contacting cousin Maud to find out more about his lineage. At the end of the war, Hap took advantage of his veteran's benefits and attended off-campus college classes from the University of Alabama in the old Phillips High School, what later came to be known as UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham). One of those classes was drafting. In this class, Hap used drafting paper to create his pedigree and other family research papers. These are the pedigrees he later showed his son, Ron. Here is a list of some of the heirlooms and family research items passed down by Hap Vincent to his son, Ron Vincent, who later became one of the Vincent Family historians: A Photo of Vincent Family heirlooms passed down to Ron: heirlooms.jpg A text file written by Ron describing the heirlooms above: heirlooms.txt Hap Vincent's "Pace Family" ancestry img097.jpg Reverse side of Hap Vincent's "Pace Family" ancestry img098.jpg Hap Vincent's "Vincent Family" pedigree img100.jpg Reverse side of Hap Vincent's "Vincent Family" pedigree with notes img099.jpg Pace Family descendants with Hap's research notes img101.jpg Seay Family research notes img102.jpg Hap's pedigree that he created in drafting class WGVincent_Pedigree.jpg A one-page, printable story written by Ron Vincent with details of Haps family research papers listed above: Vincent Family History Research.pdf Photos For more photos of Hap Vincent, click the following links: Vincent-Hap_1940_&_Doris_M-license.JPG Vincent-Hap_1942-06-18.jpg Vincent-Hap_1944_USN.JPG Vincent-Hap_1950s_US_Steel.JPG Vincent-Hap_1976_Siblings.JPG Vincent-Hap_1978_June.jpg Vincent-Hap_1984_Family.jpg Vincent-Hap_1993_death_cert.jpg Vincent-Hap_2001_&_Doris_Tombstone.jpg Audio If you would like to hear Hap's voice CLICK HERE for an audio interview by his son Ron on New Year's Day, 1979. |