Vincent was born at Frankfurt Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia. He was the first of five boys, and in a family that also included four girls, all born to Phyllis (Iorio) and Anthony Tumolo. He passed away at 73 years of age of atherosclerotic heart disease, and possibly could have had a dominant genetic hereditary condition called alpha lipoprotein elevation. One could have this disorder without any elevation of cholesterol particles shown on standard lipid tests. Evidence of this disorder is only visible with an advanced lipid panel, a test not usually funded by medical insurances without documented strong suspicion. Since other family members had such issues, lipid elevations were discussed among family members about a decade ago, but these situations might be easily missed, and then there is the matter of compliance with an often multi-step testing procedure. It is surmised that he probably did not even realize that he had a possible lipid disorder.
Vince was sent home after birth along with his mother to his maternal grandparents’ home where the family lived until June 1953. The grandparental house was located along side a small truck farm where homegrown peaches, grapes, various herbs, figs, tomatoes, Swiss chard and other wonderful fresh products were enjoyed. Occasionally, there were even chickens running loose on the property. The family relocated to their own home, a duplex located 2-½ blocks from the home of that set of grandparents. Attending church services and parochial school was easy from the new home since they were in such close proximity. Vince started 1st grade in 1956 and was immediately regarded by his teachers as being very intelligent. He earned outstanding grades. He was initially very close to the rest of the siblings. All of that changed some years later when our father became more demanding and critical of him.
By 1966, he arrived at a serious turning point. His personal life also took a turn when the family received the news that their son/brother, Anthony, went missing on a crisp October Saturday afternoon. No trace of him ever surfaced in the 57 years since he disappeared. His pay from paper route was still in the bedroom. He never showed up anywhere including at his best friends’ house where they had agreed to meet some minutes beforehand. Lots of rumors surfaced, but there was nothing leading to him or any belongings of his in all these decades. After many battles with multiple public agencies, the family was finally successful with having Anthony listed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia. It formed from the original Adam Walsh Center and eventually became an arm of the Department of Justice. Despite two Philadelphia Daily News stories published (February 2008 and May 2013) regarding Anthony’s case, no evidence had turned up.
Vince dropped out of high school when he was 16 years old, but never gave up his dreams about fixing and rebuilding cars, a passion that stayed with him until well after he retired. He kept up his skills and remained quite busy rebuilding cars and staying active with small jobs after he retired. He was a careful and excellent mechanic who always strived for perfection. In 1969, he even joined the Marine Corps briefly with the hopes of acquiring more mechanical skills.
There was a side to him that was reclusive. But there was another side that showed a desire to have some fun. He expressed that he wanted to travel and even bought some tapes at one time to learn French. He could do anything he set his mind to doing! He was a good worker and was successful in maintaining people’s trust with his accuracy and ability to size up any mechanical situation. He talked at times about traveling to Europe to tour there, but any talk about bookings never came to fruition. His personal situation was often sad, not only for him, but for others in the family that missed out on getting to know better a great guy!
Vince was an active member of St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church at 5600 Jackson Street in the Northeast part of Philadelphia where took on the role of an usher when needed. He definitely is one with whom the phrase “rest in peace” has great significance. He is with God now and all the mistrust and rejection that he learned as kid in error has been melted away.
Rest in Peace, Vince! I’m sure Lucy and Anthony will assist in guiding you. We will all be together soon enough!
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