Irvin T. Wynn

Irvin T. Wynn, age 76, died Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at Hunterdon Medical Center in Raritan Township after a hard fought battle with cancer.

He was the first of two children born to Frank Wynn and Lucinda Townes and was raised in the Bronx. He attended New York University where he received an Associate’s Degree while working full time at Chase Manhattan Bank. Irv was drafted by the United States Army in 1961 and served as a member of the peace-keeping unit in S. Korea until 1963. He returned to Chase Manhattan Bank and enjoyed a 40-year career before retiring in 1994.

In 1975 Irv began his study of Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan with Grand Master Don Ahn in New York City. He ultimately became a master of Tai Chi and was instrumental in expanding exposure to Tai Chi, first at Baruch College in NYC and lastly in Raritan Township via his long-term association with HealthQuest in Flemington NJ.

He was an enthusiastic listener and dancer to Latin music. Irv was an accomplished percussionist, and in the 1970s and 1980s, played back-up to such artists as Patti LaBelle and Tito Puente, accompanying them on the bongos and congas.

His was a life well lived, filled with unselfish love for others.

Irvin is survived by his wife of thirty years, Rosanne (Fortugno) Wynn, his five sons, Andre, Anthony, Jason, Julian, and Christopher, his daughter, Jessica, his sister, Sylvia Wynn, his eight grandchildren, four great grandchildren, in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family.

Visitation will be on Monday, evening from 6 to 9 pm at Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822. A graveside service will be held at 9:30 am, Tuesday, June 17th at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, 830 Highland Road, Newtown, PA 18940.

Donations in Irvin’s memory may be made to the Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center, 2100 Wescott Drive, Flemington, NJ 08822.

Please visit www.holcombefisher.com for further information or to leave an online condolence.

THE FOLLOWING EULOGY WAS WRITTEN BY CHRIS WYNN AND READ BY HIM AT HIS FATHER'S VISITATION:

What will your legacy be? What will people say about you when you’re no longer here?

Wise, talented, kind, amazing, special, gentle, loving, outstanding, compassionate, funny, honorable, powerful, cool, strong, positive, incredible, warm, respectful, inspiring. A great man. These are actually not my words. They are all of yours. Written to me over the last five days. And as I reflect on my father’s legacy, I could not think of a better collection of words to encapsulate a man we all loved so dearly.

Anyone who knows anything about my dad knows about his penchant for the martial arts. There’s a movie we watched together when it came out a few years back called “The Last Samuri”. Tom Cruise plays Nathan Algren, a celebrated American soldier who is brought to Japan to modernize their army and fight the Samurai. Defeated in battle, Algren is spared and returned to the Samurai village at the request of their leader, Katsumoto. The two men grow close over the coming months and Algren gains a deep respect for the Samuri culture. Ultimately, he learns the importance of self discipline, selflessness and, more generally, what a man’s true purpose is in life. It is the final scene that is perhaps most poignant. When a battle-scarred Algren presents Katsumoto’s sword to the emperor, the Emperor, who finally finds his voice and defends both himself and his country , asks Algren to tell him how Katsumoto died. Algren declares: “I will tell you, how he lived”

During my father’s most recent stay at the hospital, I returned home one evening only to find this movie on the television. As I sat on the couch, pondering the reality, and even finality, of his situation it was this last scene that resonated with me. We all know how valiantly my father fought the past 7 years yet it is the way he lived his life the over the last 76 that cemented his legacy and exemplified the type of individual all of us should strive to be.

Through the multitude of chemo treatments, needles, amputations and subsequent therapy he never complained. Not once. When I was little he would tell me to “accept the pain”. Once you accept the pain you have no other choice than to move forward. From the beginning, he accepted his situation and in doing so brightened up the world for everyone around him. The outpouring of love and support my family has received over the past week is nothing short of astonishing and is testament to what Irv Wynn did in his short time here on earth.

From a young age, my dad was faced with a tremendous amount of adversity. Circumstances most of us don’t experience until much later in life. His father died when he was 6 and his mother when he was 15. With his beloved younger sister, Sylvia, at his side he was thrust into manhood. When other boys his age were running home from school to play basketball, he was thinking about how to provide for his family. He took a job working for Chase Manhattan bank when he was 16 and remained a committed, loyal employee for over 40 years. After our family moved to New Jersey he would wake up in the pre-dawn hours, get dressed, making sure his shirts were neatly pressed and his shoes properly shined, WALK to the bus stop (so my mother could sleep a little longer) and travel the 1.5 hrs it took to get to the Port Authority in New York. After another 20 minute subway ride he would arrive at his job. He was never late. He never took sick days. And always came home to his family. Although it may not have been the most glamorous job, his family was all the motivation he needed and providing for them was something he took much pride in. Regardless of our financial circumstances over the years, he ALWAYS made his children feel as though we had nothing to worry about. As recently as two weeks ago my sister, having just graduated college, asked him for ten dollars. Of course he gave her the money without hesitation: “Everything I have is yours because I love you and you are my daughter”

There was little my father couldn’t do when he put his mind to it. My brother Julian and I were talking the other day. Julian said to me, “You know, if dad saw a stereo he wanted he would take 5 dollars off each pay check and put it away until he had enough. He said sometimes it took him years, but dad always got his stereo. Later in life, we were given some dreadful news by a doctor. It was clear my dad’s previous desires, wants, and aspirations would be replaced with newer, more meaningful goals. From that day forward, my dad’s goal was to see Jessica and me graduate from college. He achieved that goal on May 10th of this year and passed away exactly a month and a day later.

My fondest memories of my father are of his countless life lessons. As an adult, I realize there were larger themes at play within everything he told me. Respect for women, especially my mother, discipline, helping out your fellow man, responsibility, and accountability. These were the constant themes wrapped around our day to day interactions. He gave me a roadmap for how I should live my life. The things I should value and hold dear. Yet my father was not only a teacher for his kids or even for his tai chi students. He was a teacher to us all. A teacher in life. Those who met him walked away wiser for having shared that moment with a man devoted to helping others.

I have read many letters this past week. Most were from after his passing but others were from while he was still alive. One letter is from an older cousin of mine, written to my father as an adult. My parents, particularly my father, endured a lot when they decided to start a life together. Times were different. Biracial couples were few and far between. There were people very close to the family who went through great lengths to remind him of that. During this time, my cousin was only a little girl. Naïve, impressionable, and struggling to comprehend why my dad was being treated this way, she described in a letter to him how he taught her, and I quote, “unconditional compassion and love for all living things.” She notes, “I am extremely thankful that you had such a profound effect on me, for if that weren’t the case, I’m convinced it wouldn’t be possible for me to have found the level of happiness I have I my life.” End quote. It is not surprising then that this cousin went on to adopt two beautiful children of a different race to start her family. She has since had one more of her own but the impact my father had on her as a child is unmistakable.

Another letter was from my younger sister, written to my father on father’s day when she was in high school. Now my Dad has 5 sons and finally got his little girl at number 6. Jessica rightfully holds a very special place in my dad’s heart. In this letter she thanks him for the little things that may otherwise go unnoticed. Things like making an extra stop to pick up Italian food when everyone else had ordered Chinese, simply because he knew that’s what she wanted. Things like waking up in the early morning hours after his retirement to drive his little girl to school everyday. Some (I have been guilty of this myself) may look at that and say ‘why couldn’t she just take the bus like every other kid?’ You must understand it was NEVER an inconvenience for my dad. He wanted to wake up early. He wanted to cook breakfast. He wanted to drive my sister to school. Why? It meant getting an extra 30 minutes of one on one time with her. My dad was an extremely intelligent man. He had an unmatched sense of foresight and when others were playing checkers he was often time playing chess…always several moves ahead. I think he knew his time with us would be limited and none more than with his youngest child. That was their moment they shared every day. It strengthened their bond and helped mold the image Jessica has of my dad as well as the type of individual she someday hopes to marry. A man not unlike her father.

Now when you have a son, I imagine you aspire to someday be his hero. For me, my father is a super hero. He is superman. He helped others, faced adversity and loved in a manner I have yet to see duplicated during my time on this earth. It has been a privilege to call him my father.

So what is Irv Wynn’s legacy? How will he be remembered? Wise, talented, kind, amazing, special, gentle, loving, outstanding, compassionate, funny, honorable, powerful, cool, strong, positive, incredible, warm, respectful, inspiring. A great man. ~CHRISTOPHER WYNN