Elmer Vincent 1919 - 2002

Elmer Vincent was a lifelong resident of the town of Simsbury. Born the youngest of eight children to Charles H. Vincent and Elizabeth Cusick Vincent he was raised in the family home on Plank Hill Road, a homerun away from the entrance to the Simsbury Little League Complex on Elmer’s Way. A 1937 graduate of Simsbury High School he played Varsity Basketball and Varsity Baseball for 3 years (1935-1937) where he was a pitcher/first baseman. In his senior year the southpaw pitched to a 7-0 record for the 9-1 Trojans. After High School he played Semi-pro Baseball in the Farmington Valley Baseball League for 13 years. After enlisting in the service in 1943 he played for the Fourth Air Force Baseball Team (1943-1945) and then for the Linehan Club (1946 and 1947) in Boston Park League while attending the New England Institute of Mortuary Science. Upon returning home he resumed playing in the FVBL until he was hospitalized in 1949 for over a year until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had a lung removed which ended his athletic career. Elmer’s civic commitments started in 1952 with the Simsbury Little League and the Simsbury Baseball Community. For the next 24 years he served as President, Commissioner and finally Coach of the Rotary Tigers for 14 years with whom he won 8 Town Championships. He was instrumental in overseeing the construction of the 4 Little League fields at the LL Complex and then took on the renovation project of the Memorial Field Baseball Field in late 70’s. Upon Elmer’s retirement from the SLL in 1976, he joined SHS Varsity Head Coach Jack Wilson’s staff as an Assistant Coach from 1977-1982. In the summer of 1982, he assumed the General Manager duties for the Simsbury American Legion Baseball Program until his death in 2002. He served as an Associate Scout for the New York Yankees in the early 1980’s and for the Texas Rangers 1989-1991. 

A WWII veteran, Elmer took great pride in serving his country (1943-1946)with the U.S. Army Air Force Medical Division at March Air Base in Riverside CA. He remained an active member of the Tomalonis- Hall American Legion Post 84 for over 50 years. Elmer was elected Town of Simsbury Tax Collector in 1951-1958 where he collected 99% of all taxes due which amounted to less than 1 million dollars per year back in 1950’s. In 1959, he assumed his full time position of President of Vincent Funeral Homes, until his retirement in 1978. He was the Civil Defense Director for the Farmington Valley during the devastation of the Flood of 1955, which put him in charge of securing the safety of the survivors of the flood. He served on the Republican Town Committee, Simsbury Historical Society, Life Member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV)and was a Justice of the Peace. Among his many awards, Elmer was the 1971 Simsbury Chamber of Commerce Youth Service Award winner, Simsbury Hometown Hero Award 1986, the Rotary Club “Citizen of the Year” in 1986, and the Connecticut State American Legion Baseball Contributors Award in 1992. In June 1970, The Town of Simsbury issued a Proclamation designating June 16 as “Elmer Vincent Day”, and in 1976 declared the road to Memorial Park to be named “Elmer’s Way”. Elmer was married to lifetime Simsbury resident Joanna Quinn Vincent in 1947 and is survived by three sons, Former First Selectman Thomas Vincent, Timothy Vincent and Anthony “Tony” Vincent, 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Elmer “Augie” Vincent, known to the Simsbury Baseball Community as “Mr. Baseball”, passed away on May 29, 2002 ending 50 years of loyal and dedicated service to the youth of Simsbury but his legacy of athleticism, public service, and business acumen continues to live on in his family and the many players his life had touched.