On Thursday, August 31st, Vincent Clifford Robbins passed from this world. Born in 1920, Vincent was a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Missouri. At an early age, he showed a penchant for the piano and organ. By the age of 12 he was a substitute organist for his church and at age 16 he was accompanying a local opera guild. Like so many of his generation, Vincent’s life was interrupted by World War II. He served in the Army in ordinance and as an assistant chaplain, playing the organ or piano for services. After the war, he returned to Kansas City and began playing the organ for the First Presbyterian Church of Independence, Missouri. He became the principle organist, a position he held for over 40 years. During this time, he worked as a piano and organ salesman while at the same time giving private lessons. He later left sales behind and devoted himself to full time teaching. Vincent met Mary Antionette Giunta in 1946. They were married in 1947. They had three children.
Vincent was preceded in death by his loving wife of 60 years, Mary, his father, Lawrence W. Robbins I, his mother, Helen Glasscock Robbins, and five brothers and sisters: Lawrence Robbins and his wife Annabelle, Louise Celeste Robbins Clardy and her husband Gilbert, Edwin Robbins and his wife Belva, Grenville Robbins and his wife Shirley, and Edith Robbins Burtis and her husband Orville.
He is survived by his children, Lawrence W. Robbins II, James Salvatore Robbins and his wife SuzAnne, Sally Robbins Robinson and her husband Scott, his grandchildren, Charlotte, Colleen, Anne, and Clayton, a great grandchild, James Brice, a sister, Dorothy Robbins Dowgray, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service for Vincent will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Independence, 100 N Pleasant St, Independence, MO 64050, on Friday, September 22nd at 10:30 AM. Interment of his ashes will be At 2:30 PM at Terrace Park Cemetery, 801 NW 108th St, KCMO, In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the National Hospice Foundation, P.O. Box 824401, Philadelphia, PA 19182-4401 or nationalhospicefoundation.org.