An UNFORTUNATE passing of a great man in O&P

Andrew A. Cinque CPO

Description

Title:

An UNFORTUNATE passing of a great man in O&P

Creator:

Andrew A. Cinque CPO

Date:

9/5/2000

Text:

I have the unfortunate responsibility, yet a feeling of obligation to
let this field know of the passing
yesterday morning of a silent, but major contributor to the field of
Prosthetics and Orthotics. As a matter of fact, I feel this man was as
important to this field as the man who invented velcro who I believe
passed away in the 80's. For many years now, and for many years to come,
we will all enjoy the benefits of what this one man gave to us as well
as a term we all may take for granted, and we all
may include in our billing every day.
The man was Norman Vincent Whitaker. We all called him Vince, except
for Rick, who
although I have not met, Vince always told me called him Norman. In the
early 80's, I met Vince
and together we started the development of a new resin. I was just a
helper in this venture. I was
the practitioner who used the resin and gave the feedback to Vince as to
what needed to be
changed and refined. Vince called the resin AME, specifically Standard
AME. Vince's company
was Standard Prosthetics Inc. Vince was really the brains behind this
new resin and the three letters,
AME, which stuck with this field as did the importance of the
formulation. Vince is the one who
kept at it, refined this material according to my annoying requests, and
later became deservingly
successful. He was very generous, and always was the first to help out
anyone who approached him
for anything, which more often than not was money. Ironically, that is
what led to the sad way in
which Vince left us. He was no longer on top, having been beaten down
by his own generosity, but
surely having secured a place for himself besides Lord Jesus (whom
Vince spoke of often). He
was a very bright guy, and a funny guy who enjoyed reading, cars, Elvis,
and all the wonderful things that life and this country, to which he was
always patriotic, had to offer. He is survived by many friends, family,
and most of all his two precious children whom he loved with all his
heart; Tiarra and Andrew.
Vince was 36, I think. I ribbed him so much about his age and how he
was catching up to me that I could be off by a year or so. He believed
in God, near death experiences, and life after death. And if he is
able to keep our agreement, will be in touch soon. Good-bye Vince.
You'll always be
remembered.

Your friend, Andrew Cinque CPO

                          

Citation

Andrew A. Cinque CPO, “An UNFORTUNATE passing of a great man in O&P,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 24, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/214854.