On Sunday, November 8, my dear friend Harry Vincent passed away at the age of 90. I first met Harry in the 1960's when he was the Washington vice president of the consulting firm of Booz Allen Hamilton. He was doing work for our company and subsequently joined our Board of Directors and served faithfully for over 34 years.
When we split our company, he moved over to the Host Hotel Board of Directors. Host was the company that retained the ownership of the Marriott Hotels we owned before the split and is now called Host Hotels and Resorts.
Harry was a wonderful contributor to our company in so many ways. He was a good counselor, always had good advice and was very loyal dedicated to our company and our shareholders.
He was also my hero because of his outstanding service in the U.S. Navy in the Second World War. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1941 and was assigned to the cruiser the USS Vincennes. He was the radio officer as the ship guarded the USS Hornet, the aircraft carrier which launched Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Tokyo.
The Vincennes also fought in the Battle of Midway. Finally in the Guadalcanal campaign, the Vincennes was sunk in the Battle of Savo Island. Harry swam around in shark infested waters for many, many hours and survived. Thank goodness.
I'll miss my dear friend and send my love and condolences to his widow Nancy and their wonderful family.
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
Remembering a Dear Friend and Personal Hero
Hi Bill, this was a very nice article you wrote. I would like you to check out my Marriott family, as I mentioned you and are related via DNA testing, but if you care to truly find out please don't hesitate by contacting me at Ancestry.com SEYMON-Alias DAVIS. Its important to know the truth, and who your family members are.
Posted by: Eric E. Davis | 02/27/2010 at 05:44 AM
Dear Mister Marriott, please accept the expression of my condolence from far Armenia
Posted by: Karine | 12/06/2009 at 07:23 AM
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the wonderful contribution that Harry Vincent made to your business and personal life. Freedom comes with a price and we are indeed indebted to Harry and to all those that have served our country so valiently.
Posted by: Roger Sybrowsky | 12/01/2009 at 04:56 AM
True friends are those that are around longer than you ever expected them to. As soon as you turn around you're already remembering 10 or 20 years ago. I know you will truely miss your friend. I send my condolences to you, your family and his family as well. He was truely blessed.
Posted by: Dannette | 11/30/2009 at 02:19 PM
Thank you for your warm and expressive message regarding your beloved friend. My deepest condolences go out to you and the Vincent family. I have been residing at your hotel for 5 months while on a project and appreciate the excellent service I have experienced. Thank you for your vision, commitment and dedication to your customers.
Posted by: A. Ford | 11/30/2009 at 08:12 AM
Good friends are A blessing, Harry Vincent
I'm sure he will be missed A great deal.
Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: J. Murphy | 11/29/2009 at 12:48 AM
Dear Mister Marriott,
please accept the expression of my condolence from far Germany
Posted by: Roland benkenstein | 11/28/2009 at 03:33 AM
That vibrant, humble, hard-working, fundamentally sound generation will all be gone and when they have all passed on, I hope the younger generation will have the wisdom to seek and learn from the good books written about them.
It is from learning about our past that will protect us going forward into the future. Thanks for sharing this story Bill, he sounds like an incredible person.
Posted by: Stuart | 11/27/2009 at 06:10 AM
Hi Mr. Marriott,
I love your site, but you could add a drop down window that captures names and emails to the existing website. Then, during the year you can send promotions and intersting articles to those guests.
This will add more happy guests.
Go to www.ExplodeYourSalesSystem.com and fill in your information. Read all the blue tabs. It will explain the cutting edge Business Marketing System.
You will Increase Profits and Services and Decrease Your Advertising Budget.
See you on the otherside.
To Your Success,
Therese
PS I am sorry for your loss. My husband`s father was an Admiral in the United States Navy. He is 85 years young.
Posted by: Therese Pace | 11/25/2009 at 09:52 AM
Dear Bill, you stand head and shoulders above all the other hoteliers in the world...I hope you will be able to write the sequel to your Spirit to Serve from 1997- (Kathi Brown). I was truly inspired and want to read more about you and your latest accomplishments...What DO You Think??
Posted by: Jeffrey Reiss-Rotary Peace Cities | 11/24/2009 at 06:50 AM
I'm Sorry for your and his families loss. My older brother passed away from Cystic Fibrosis on Nov 6th and though we never did a business adventure together the ones that succeded were because we discussed them together.
Posted by: michael | 11/24/2009 at 06:30 AM
Regrets, sympathy and consolation to you, Mr. Marriott on the loss of your board member, personal hero and dear friend. With Thanksgiving approaching, it's so fitting to recall and celebrate his memory and the contributions to your organization. Sharing them with us on a personal level speaks volumes about you.
Posted by: TJCNewYork | 11/23/2009 at 06:41 AM
Thanks for your words full of affection and esteem to your dear friend. I appreciate people showing their deep feelings and enriching others this way.
Posted by: Marie Zborilova | 11/22/2009 at 10:33 PM
Congratulations on your Churchill Centre Award for Leadership!
Mr. Marriott, you write about everyone else, so I am grateful that you give me the opportunity to write to you through the medium of a blog. As someone who chose to study Hospitality Management, solely from a passion of business service to people, you continue to be a source of fascination. The high school of my first choice and attendance was St. Rose's High school because of its serviam philosophy of education, the only in the country. It's motto Serviam-I will serve.
So I am intrigued to learn all that I would learn about your journey in the business field of service The Hospitality Industry. At age 77, I wish to see you rolling out your legacy as The Living Legacy of Bill Marriott in the form of an ingenuity that would create a stunning marketing blitz for Marriott. Service is what connects me to you. The reason that I keep urging, requesting, prodding you to write that book. Allow me to say, if you are not into writing, then please allow me the opportunity that Warren Buffett gave to Alice Schroeder in writing-The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, and let me write for you. I have the passion and love for manifestation. Thank you for sharing a part of you with me as you keep Marriott on the move.
Posted by: Juliette Adams | 11/22/2009 at 10:44 AM
We need a few more good men like Harry Vincent today. It must have been an honor and inspiration to have him as a great friend too. Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Doug Weller | 11/21/2009 at 08:09 AM
It's good to have personal heros.Harry will live on in your memories and others.Cheers!
Posted by: JR Wallace | 11/21/2009 at 07:29 AM
Indeed Harry Vincent was a true Hero. I am inspired by your humble beginning.
Posted by: Joel J. Amusavi | 11/19/2009 at 05:01 PM