Vincent Denchy, who has lived with his wife on Hypoluxo Island since 1974, holds a patch from his 24-year tenure with the crash rescue team that served Palm Beach International Airport. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Vincent Denchy doesn’t have any racy stories to tell, but after more than 50 years on Lantana’s Hypoluxo Island, he is a part of its lore.
Denchy, 91, and his wife, Arleen, moved to the island in 1974, built and lived in a house on Oyster Lane for three years, then built a house on Lands End Road where they still reside. “When we moved here, there were only three houses on our street,” Denchy said. “Lots were $25,000, and the ones across the street on the (Intracoastal Waterway) were $45,000. Imagine that today.” Single-family homes on the same street are priced in the millions today.
When the Denchys moved in, a physical barrier blocked access from Hypoluxo Island to Point Manalapan, which didn’t open for development until later.
“When we went to the store to get building materials we’d tell the people we were on the wrong side of the gate, and we still feel that way,” he said.
Born in Pennsylvania and raised in New Jersey, Denchy met Arleen at Walt’s hot dog stand in Linden, New Jersey. The two wed in 1959 and have been married 65 years.
If Denchy has had a brush with fame it was when he was stationed in Bermuda in the Air Force. His girlfriend was the daughter of author Irving Stone, whose books included The Agony and the Ecstasy, and her best friend was actress Marlo Thomas.
His retirement was fairly active until recently. Always good with his hands, he earned his journeyman’s license to become an electrician while also making wooden bowls that he would sell at Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach.
For many years he was an active cyclist who would join the packs riding up and down State Road A1A, but now Denchy has traded in his bike for a pair of reading glasses while sharing life with Arleen.
During his life, he says, he would help people whom he didn’t know.
“I would give my neighbors a hand if they needed it. When we first moved here there was a town dump that has since been transformed into the park next to The Carlisle. A bunch of us got together and I would put up fences. I would build owl houses and bat houses for the nature preserve. They’re asking for help over there now and I would, but I can’t do that anymore,” Denchy said.
He and his wife always had dogs — poodles, collies, Westies — but don’t feel they can take care of them anymore. The neighbors will tell you that the Denchys’ fondness for animals is still evident and that they keep doggie treats on hand for people who come by with four-legged friends in tow.
— Brian Biggane
Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I was born in Pennsylvania but when I was 3 my family moved to Roselle, New Jersey. I went to Abraham Clark High School, and later we moved over to Scotch Plains, which was nearby and was a farming community. My family in Pennsylvania was working in the coal mines, including my father, who later became a maintenance man. He was very good with his hands, and I would go with him on jobs and learned how to work with my hands as well.
I went to Upsala College and accumulated 43 credits before I decided it wasn’t for me and later went to trade school for air conditioning. I also spent four years in the Air Force. I joined up to see the world, put in for the Far East and Europe, and never got farther than Bermuda. I was mostly in the States, which I found frustrating, but you go where you’re sent.
Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: I was a lineman for Public Service Electric and Gas in New Jersey for 18 years. That was before the time they had bucket trucks, so we would climb the poles with hooks on our boots. I remember when they got the first bucket truck and we were like, “Oh my God, look at that.” That was like driving a Cadillac. I left for Florida two weeks before I got my pension and never did get it.
When we came down to Florida in the early ’70s I got a job for another 24 years on the crash rescue squad at the West Palm Beach airport. We were the firefighters on the scene if and when an airliner crashed. Nothing big ever happened at PBI, but there were a couple of fatal crashes with small planes at Lantana Airport and I was first on the scene.
Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: Go to college. And if not, go to a trade school. And give your cellphone to your mother and have her lock it away.
Q: How did you choose to make your home on Hypoluxo Island?
A: We bought a fourplex on Broadway in Lantana when we moved to Florida in the early ’70s and my cousin was living over here. We lived in one unit and rented out the other three for three years and used the money to build a house on Oyster Lane. So, we lived there for three years while we were building this house.
My cousin told us to be prepared to be disliked by people over on the mainland because they perceived us as being more affluent. Some of that still exists. When we came here it was quaint; the island was known as Mosquito Island years ago and I understand the Army would bring troops down here to prepare them for fighting in the jungle.
Q: What is your favorite part about living on Hypoluxo Island?
A: It’s a nice place, and it used to be nicer. I have problems with the traffic — the people who come through here think this is an airport runway — but it’s quiet and the people who live around us are very nice.
Q: What book are you reading now?
A: Walk In My Combat Boots, by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. It’s several stories about soldiers who served in combat from Vietnam to Afghanistan. I really enjoy reading the war stories.
Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I don’t listen to music anymore. I have otosclerosis in my ear. I started losing my hearing way back when I was in my late 20s from working on airplane engines. I used to like country-western music when I was in the service. But the rock ’n’ roll stuff is all garbage.
Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A: My father and Arleen’s father. It was actually my stepfather; my mother got divorced when I was about 3. But I remember my father stopping in the pouring rain to help some nuns whose car was on the side of the road and helped them get going again. That’s the kind of man he was, and he passed that down to me.
Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: Robert Redford made a lot of good movies, so I would say him.
Q: Who/what makes you laugh?
A: Tom and Jerry. We used to go to the drive-in movies and the first hour would be cartoons and I got a big kick out of Tom and Jerry. We both liked Jerry Lewis, too.
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