Vincent Louis 'Vince' Grillo, 83

Vincent Louis “Vince” Grillo, 83, of Bigfork, passed away in the comfort of his own home surrounded by his family on March 16, 2019.

Vince is survived by his wife, Virginia, of 61 years, daughters Pamela, Melanie and Tara, and son Vinny, brothers Joseph and Melchoir, five grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, nieces, nephews and extended family.

Vince was preceded in death by his grandson, Aaron.

Vince was a loving father, husband, grandfather, friend and mentor to many. Born in Brooklyn, New York, to his parents, Melchoir and Jennie, Vince was an active kid and a solid athlete growing up. Vince graduated from Brooklyn Poly Technical Institute with a civil engineering degree. Vince married the absolute love of his life, Virginia Truglio. Vince and Virginia were true soul mates, and had a love affair like no other. They enjoyed many things together in their early years, including dancing, socializing with friends and family and so many of Virginia’s cousins, going on short trips and raising their four children.

After serving in the Army Corps of Engineers, Vince worked as an engineer on many large projects on the East Coast. With such a creative mind, Vince developed an amazing ability to conceptualize and manage the construction of office buildings, shopping centers, residential communities and homes and it seemed to come naturally to him. Vince worked very hard, pushed himself, valued work ethic and instilled those qualities in his children.

In 1970 Vince packed up his family and moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where he was recruited by the ski area to be their chief real estate consultant. Shortly after that, Vince started to work for himself creating and building out several real estate projects. The family thrived in Colorado where they all enjoyed skiing and recreating. On many occasions, Vince and Virginia would load up the family in their Jeep Wagoneer and drive up Buffalo Pass, Service Creek or to Steamboat Lake for a picnic or a day of fishing and swimming, listening to John Denver or Neil Diamond on the car stereo. Vince designed and had their family log home mini-farm built in Strawberry Park. The home was complete with a log barn, chickens, turkeys and rabbits that they raised as well as a couple of horses, a large vegetable garden and a 10-acre hay pasture. Life was good at what Vince and Virginia named the “Sweet Life Farm.” At the peak of its summer glory, eldest daughter Pam was married on the property to Jeff Robinson.

Vince’s biggest goal in his life was to provide for his family and send his kids to college. He succeeded in that goal and when the two youngest kids were still at university, Vince and Virginia moved to Connecticut so Vince could form a company with his two brothers and continue in their real estate endeavors. Brothers Joseph and Mel perfectly complemented Vince with their different skill sets and abilities.

The residence they purchased in Connecticut had been somewhat neglected, but Vince and Virginia brought that home back to its pristine beauty. The grounds were also transformed through their hard work and love for plants, trees and flowers. They aptly named this home, Belterra, meaning beautiful earth. Middle daughter Melanie was married to David Meeks in grand Italian wedding fashion on the property. After several years in Connecticut, Vince was now semi-retired, and with all kids now graduated from college, Vince and Virginia were looking for their next chapter and place to move that would provide most of the things they loved and enjoyed. After extensive research and visiting many different areas, they decided that Bigfork, Montana, would be their next home.

Vince found a beautiful property on the Swan River where he designed and had their forever home built. “The River House” was their pride and joy and the passion they shared to improve the land was nothing short of incredible. Many summer days were spent there with the children, grandchildren and friends. There was always a feast with Virginia’s finest food creations as well as Vince’s homemade pizzas in the outdoor pizza oven or delicious barbecues. These gatherings were very common and often had 20 to 25 people in attendance. The grandkids would come to play, swim, fish, float the river, pick berries and do what kids do. These were the best memories that Vince would ever have. Vince was a family man at his core and his family was his life, his pride and his joy. Youngest daughter Tara was married to Steve Harbin at The River House.

Vince had many hobbies and most people who knew him could tell he was a perfectionist. Most everything that Vince did, he did with a laser focus and would learn everything he could about the subject matter. Vince liked to read and had an extensive library of books. He loved to garden and spend time growing flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees. With Virginia always by his side, every place they made a home was a virtual botanical garden. They took pride in growing many of the healthy foods that would wind up in the family dinners. Cooking is a central theme with Virginia, and Vince was pretty darn good around the kitchen as well.

Vince and Virginia spent many winters in the Florida Everglades where they had scores of friends they would reunite with every year. Since they owned a condo there, this was the only place they did not have extensive gardens and could spend their time fishing, recreating and socializing. Vince will be sadly missed by his close friends on Chokoloskee Island.

One of Vince’s true passions was fly fishing. He traveled to many corners of the world catching and releasing fish for the love of the activity, beauty of the destination, and camaraderie. Vince tied his own flies and enjoyed every aspect of the sport. Meal planning was a huge part of the adventure, and all those that would be in attendance would likely get the gourmet menu emailed to them, along with a recommendation of flies to bring to match the hatch. He got his son Vinny hooked on fly fishing as a young boy and every spring and fall Vince and Virginia would visit Vinny, his wife Debbie and their daughter in Idaho. Vince would always make time to venture away to the Idaho rivers to go fishing where he relished his father-son bonding time.

As much as Vince loved to cast a fly, his truer art and love was to teach his skills. He mentored friends, acquaintances, his wife, daughters and grandchildren. He referred to his grandsons as his protégé. His love of the sport and legacy has been passed down and around so others can continue creating forever memories. In his own words, “There are few endeavors in life that create pleasure for one ’s entire existence, cradle to grave. And there are far fewer which can be performed in the most beautiful and serene places on earth. Fly fishing has been my passion for as long as I can remember. It all started with a green, steel, hexagonal, telescopic fly rod, which my dad bought for me on my 10th birthday. I was hooked.”

With a real knack for storytelling, Vince started to write short stories, often about fishing trips or excursions he went on with Virginia. Vince had so many friends that he kept in touch with, that every few weeks he would email a story with a different title. The subject line would read “Vince’s Wanderings,” and all the recipients would wait for the story and cherish the short tale, often with a moral or lesson. These stories would take you away from your day to day and have you drift to foreign places and into the mind of each character in the story. There were so many great stories that after a while, Vince got them published into book form. He did not do this for fame or fortune, but to share his adventures and love of life with his friends and loved ones so everyone could re-live the memories.

Vince helped many people throughout his life. He was like a teacher who loved his students to grasp the subject and solve the problem. Vince was a problem solver in every sense of the act. Through his organization, his methodical understanding and deep knowledge of many subjects, he was eager and happy to help people or family members through a tough time or situation. He would get involved in any project you asked him for help with. His patience, willingness and ability to drop everything to find a solution or get one back on track was commendable. Although not true foster parents, Vince and Virginia fostered several kids, took them into their home and treated them like a part of the family. Most all these kids were having family problems or from broken homes. Providing for these individuals, teaching them life lessons and trying to turn their life around was a duty that Vince and Virginia felt they would provide simply because they were able and fortunate.

Vince was truly a legend in his children’s eyes and well as Virginia’s. They all looked up to him as if he was super human and could make anything possible. No words will express how much he will be missed. He was a great man who touched and inspired so many lives.

A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date.