Vincent Patrick Switala was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on November 26, 1995, to Brian and Karen (McMahon) Switala. A few other endearments he went by were: Vinny, Vince, Vinny-bo-binny, and Chezzy. He was the third of five children. He lived in Minnesota his entire life and graduated from the Switala family home school. Vincent died in a vehicle accident in Oak Grove, Minnesota, on June 14, 2019; he was 23. His truck slid off the road and into a pond, causing him to go unconscious and drown.

He is survived by his parents and four siblings, Nicholas, Megan, Connor, and Karinna; by his Aunts: Colleen (Al) Klein, Brenda (John) Stace, and Lori (Dallas) Stejskal; by his Uncles:Timothy (Malisa) McMahon, Daniel (Dawn) McMahon, Gary DeFlorin, Jeff (Bonnie) DeFlorin, Wayne (Joellen) Switala, Frank Jr. (Jan) Switala, and Robin Switala; by his cousins: Angeline (Mac) Kocha, Ian McMahon, Mitchel McMahon, Danielle McMahon, Joey McMahon, Madison Stace, Kennedy Stace, Jennifer (James) Hanson, Heather (Cory) Scott, Paul Switala, Kevin Switala, Nathan Switala, Frank the 3rd, Jerry Switala. Vincent is Preceded in Death by his grandparents: Frank Sr. and Dorothy Switala, Lawrence Patrick McMahon Jr. and Kathleen McMahon: and his Aunt’s: Cheryl Switala and Diane DeFlorin.

Vincent had an abiding and lifelong passion for cars and trucks of almost all kinds (the Prius excepted), which began as a young boy when he became an exuberant fan of the NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon. He owned two trucks, a Ford and a Chevy, and had never quite decided where his brand loyalties lay; his fuel loyalties, which were ironclad, lay squarely with diesel. If he wasn't at his happiest while driving a truck, it's because he may have been at his happiest repairing one. If he could fix it himself, he did.

Other interests competed, fleetingly and with limited success, for his time and attention: for example, a brief bout of Tiger Woods fever impelled him to the driving ranges one summer. He held jobs at Byerly's grocery store, Chipotle, TGI Fridays, and FedEx, beginning as a teenager. At the time of his death, he was employed at Rosenbauer, a maker of fire trucks and emergency equipment. This was nearly a dream job for Vincent, an enthusiastic tour guide for anyone who wanted to see the factory.

He had a free and intuitive musical talent. He was trained on the violin and proficient at drums. Anyone claiming to know the complete list of instruments he could play is too bold, because if he picked an instrument up once at some point in his life, the odds are good that he quickly worked out how to do something lovely with it.

His musical giftings were the perfect outlet for his heart of worship to the Lord. He was part of the worship team at his home church, Redeeming Love Church. He brought a special touch and presence to Sunday mornings with playing the drums and violin there. To say that he will be heartfully missed there is an understatement. A highlight of his pursuit of worshipping his King was his part on the worship dance team “For His Name Sake”. Here he danced, played the violin, and of course...laughed. He was able to travel many places of which Israel was his favorite. As he traveled with the team, they lifted up the Name of the Lord before others.

His knowledge of and appreciation for various styles of music were as encyclopedic as his instrumental skills. If you knew Vincent and weren’t eventually exposed to at least some metal, dubstep, country, emo, Christian and classical that you liked, it wasn’t for his lack of trying.

Vincent will be remembered by his loved ones and friends, of whom there are many, as a gracious and warm man, ready always with a joke, a perfectly chosen meme, a helping hand, or a hug. We will miss his smile, good sense of humor, and infectious laugh; we will miss his passionate nature; we will miss his hearty appetite for the finer things in life, which he would have hastened with percussive enthusiasm to tell you were burgers, bacon, and beer; we will miss his endless entertainment through his imitating sounds and giving impersonations; and we will miss his seemingly inexhaustible reservoir of love.

Life story written in collaboration by Nicholas Switala, Karen Switala, Lydia Janasz, and Megan Switala

Funeral Service will be 11AM on Friday, June 21st at Redeeming Love, 2425 White Bear Ave., Maplewood. Visitation 4-8PM on Thursday, June 20th at Mueller Memorial, 835 Johnson Pkwy., St. Paul and also 1 hour prior to the service at church.

As many of you know, Vincent loved to sport the flannel shirts, so in honor of him, his family will be wearing flannel to the Thursday visitation. We wanted to let you know that you are all welcome to do so also if you are interested.

GoFundMe link:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/vincent-switala039s-funeral-cost-donation?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet