We lost another great one from the hill last summer. Vincent McDonnell passed away Saturday, July 9th from a heart attack. His wife of 55 years Eileen Nolan died two days later from complications of a stroke. She had been confined to a wheelchair for the last eight years.
Vincent, a good, decent guy devoted to his wife, took very good care of her with the help of his son James. The wake was very crowded. It was sad, but in a way nice to see the two coffins side by side. For it would have been very difficult for her with Vincent gone.
I used to see Vincent in P.J. Clarks once in a while; he always had an entourage with him. But if he saw you and you were from the hill, he always had a smile and a minute to say hello and to hear some news. He loved the hill. He was New York State's chief mediator from 1963 to 1967. He also served as Labor Advisor to former Presidents Reagan and Bush. He settled many of New York City's labor disputes for Mayors Wagner, Lindsay, Beame and Koch. Vincent was in the Air Force during World War II. He was a Captain in the Intelligence Division. Vincent was responsible for the security of some of our biggest Airports. When the war ended, he went back to school and graduated from N.Y.U. with a law degree.
We had a testimonial for Vincent at Fordham University in 1979. I was on the committee. Danny Aiello, an actor friend of mine, was doing a play on Broadway. I asked him if he would come up to present an award to Vincent. Even though Danny didn't know him, he still jumped at the chance (before becoming an actor, Danny was involved with the Teamsters union.) Danny did a great job. Vincent was very impressed and loved the night. He and Danny developed a friendship out of this. I saw Danny about a month ago and told him about Vincent. He was very saddened by the news.
I saw Vincent's brother Hughie at the wake. Hughie, the older of the two, another legend of the Hill, also served in the Air Force. He was a Captain and flew the big ones. He saw lots of combat and survived two crash landings.
After the war, he went to work for the Veteran's Administration and was assigned to the Real Estate division. Needless to say a lot of G.I.'s from the hill became home owners. Nothing crooked mind you, he was able to help them out. I once asked him to help get a little Italian guy from Brooklyn a house in Rockland County. He didn't know the guy, but that didn't matter (The little Italian guy was my brother in-law, Al Scalzi.) Hughie got him a beauty in New City. He paid $27,000 for it. What a deal! To this day, Scalzi still talks about it. By the way, Scalzi and my sister Kitty just celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary. He's a saint. Hughie would help anybody, he was great.
Two weeks after Vincent and his wife died, Hughie's wife died, then ten days later, Hughie died. Can you imagine the four McDonnell's gone in a month? WOW! HATS OFF! To John Sweeney and His son Tom for running and completing the grueling 26 mile marathon.
We the committee were a little disappointed by the turnout at the dance on October 7th. Only 125 people showed up. We committed ourselves to two hundred people. We're lucky the manager is a nice person, he let us off the hook. We need your support at these affairs.
Well that's it for now, hope you all have a healthy and happy New Year. See you next time.