Natalia D. Vincent, age 34, of Eau Claire, died on Monday, January 2, 2012, at Mayo Clinic Health System, Eau Claire.
Natalia was born on July 2, 1977 to Dmitriy Parshin and Galina Rudenko in Troitcky Russia. She grew up in a small town with her dearest younger sister Veronika. She was an exceptional student getting Straight A’s all throughout school, qualifying her for a special and rare Gold Medal from Russia’s Education system.
A good portion of her early childhood, she was raised by her grandmother. Sometime during her childhood her mother’s sister Tatiana took a great risk during the communist regime and had her baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church which at the time was underground. She reminisced often about how happy and natural her childhood was. Her mother would sing and play guitar, her father would take them camping and mushroom hunting. They didn’t have much, but it was a good life, and she was very proud of how organic it was.
At the age of 16 she moved with her mom and step-dad to the Ukraine, where she continued her academic excellence, and started pharmacy school. In a remarkable twist of fate, while reading the newspaper one day, they saw a notice regarding “United States Green Card Lottery”. Her mother said, we should play that, we will win. Which they did, later finding out the odds were something less than 1 in 394. They moved to Indianapolis, Indiana when she was 18, and her mother was pregnant. Her step-dad, Boris, had to leave shortly after her sister Maria was born, leaving her with the responsibility of taking care of her mom and new sister. She secured a job at a factory, and started school at IUPUI. Since she was the only one who knew enough English to get a job, her first early dream was to one day have enough money left over from a paycheck to buy a can of corn and a bag of chips. Despite her limited English, she continued to excel at the University being a 4.0 student. She eventually got a full-time job at Target, while continuing her studies. At some point, she bought a movie she had originally seen in Russia that had people in red uniforms in it. In Russia she had thought the people in that movie had the most amazing dream job ever, and wouldn’t it be great if she could one day have a job like that. As it turns out, the movie was actually filmed in a Target store. So she had realized one of her biggest dreams growing up in Russia, move to America, and get a job like the one in that movie.
Ever the self-motivated go-getter, she did some modeling work, started several businesses, worked full-time at Target, all while continuing to be the main support system for her mother as Boris continued to need to be in Russia. Her generous heart led her to scrimp and save every extra penny she could for her family in Russia, and one day with a tax return windfall, she was able to send enough money to her grandparents in Russia so they could buy their first car. This pattern of selflessness, taking care of others, and relentless work ethic would continue to be hallmarks of her life for years to come. In 1999 her mother was pregnant with a 2nd child, after spending some time in Russia with Boris.
On an otherwise un-remarkable day in the spring of 1999, by pure unbridled “Serendipity”, she met her Soul-mate WJ Vincent II. Their first official date was St. Patrick’s Day 1999 a few days after Andrew, her brother, was born. Thus began a classic romance worthy of any movie Hollywood has ever put out. She knew they were meant to be, and sacrificed her 3 years of 4.0 college education to follow him from New York, to Texas, and back. Eventually they wound up in Menomonie, WI so she could go back to college for an Applied Mathematics Degree. WJ was starting a new business, so she worked full-time as a waitress at “The Creamery”, part-time as a secretary for the University, and pitched in with the business every free moment she had, while stepping in to help her mother raise Maria and Andrew full time on weekends, summers, and vacations, as she had moved them to Menomonie, and the step-dad was unable to return to the United States.
She officially became a United States Citizen, with WJ’s mom making the trip with her to Milwaukee for the “Test” which she aced, no surprise. Her sterling 4.0 track-record continued, despite the high degree of difficulty with her major. Once she was a citizen, she travelled back to Russia for the first time. Nothing made her happier than giving, and boy oh boy did she give.
As the business started to take off, she was able to send money to Russia eventually on a monthly basis. She was able to re-model her grandparents apartment, buy them their first new bed in 50 years, got her grandma her first washing machine, and so much more. She married WJ on October 2nd, 2004 with a wedding theme of “Serendipity” and a wedding motto of “Two lives…One path.” They then traveled together for a month to Russia, where they had a second “Russian Wedding” to honor all of her family who could not get to America.
She graduated with honors from the UW-Stout Applied Mathematics Program in 2005, and after fielding numerous offers chose to work where she had interned…with the “Marshfield Clinic” in their computer programming department. It was tough moving to Marshfield leaving her mother Galina, and Maria and Andrew in Menomonie, but she took the job with a 2 year plan to transfer to Eau Claire, WI.
With the business she had helped WJ launch taking off, they began a whirlwind amount of travel. Cancun, Cozumel, Bahamas, Amsterdam, Aruba, Dominica, St. Thomas, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, St. Petersburg Russia, Curacao, so many other fantastic trips too numerous to mention. Climbing waterfalls, snorkeling with sharks and stingrays, surfing, climbing pyramids, exploring rain forests, they had so many wonderful adventures. Her heart and generosity never once slowed up.
On December 26, 2006 she was finally able to bring her beloved sister Veronika with her family to America. On April 4th, 2007, she was a part of helping a good friend of the family bring his own soul mate from Russia, which happened to be her very own dearest cousin Julia.
She was such a great employee Marshfield Clinic found a way to transfer her to Eau Claire, WI. After purchasing a house with her husband WJ, they became pregnant their first week in it. She gave birth to their son Tre in August of 2007. 12 hours of labor and a tailbone broken in two places, and she wouldn’t take any painkillers! The birth of their first child inspired her to become an avid biker. As soon as Tre was big enough, she began hauling him around all the trails around Eau Claire. She put in almost 1000 miles her first summer, and every one since. She bought her mom a car, and then bought her mom a house as well, so they could be closer. Since her mother, Galina had M.S., WJ and her continued to be intimately involved in raising Maria and Andrew. Natalia continued to follow a more and more holistic&natural path in life.
With the birth of their 2nd child Alexandra, in April of 2010, she really took it up a notch. She became a part of the Holistic Mom’s Network which she absolutely LOVED. Helped her mom build one of the best organic gardens around, started planting trees, flowers, plants, and so much more. She also rekindled her passion for hunting mushrooms especially with her sister, Veronika. She loved spending time on her in-laws, Bill and Judy Vincent’s land up north, hunting for mushrooms, picking blackberries, picking apples, Natalia would get all of the nieces and nephews involved. She started a business with her sister, Veronika for mom’s that wanted to live life the way nature intended. Together they designed and created incredibly beautiful clothing.
The diagnosis she received in September of 2011, would have shattered anyone else. Being told she had an incurable, inoperable brain tumor, just made her decide to be the first one to beat it. Working under the assumption she had a minimum of 15 months, and up to 7 years…she began living life at an even more amazing pace. She made plans to write a book, build her own organic garden, to travel to India with her new close friend Libby, became a vegan, explored her spirituality and connection to God more deeply, experimented with acupuncture, homeopathy, essential oils, reflexology, and so much more. All the while, continuing to be the most amazing mother, wife, sister, friend, daughter, that you could possibly imagine. When we went into the hospital on New Year’s Eve, she was so happy, because we all thought she was finally having the healing crisis necessary to be free of the tumor. Natalia Vincent was one of those miraculous people that made each one of us better, just for having known her. We have told her son, Tre and daughter, Alex that mommy had to go to work for God as an angel. We can’t see her anymore, but she can see us, and is now watching over us. Every time sun shines through a window on them it is her showering them with kisses and love. We are so grateful for the time we shared with her, and for reasons too many to count, wish we had had more. Our family believes she did not die, she has just moved on to a much better place, one where she can help watch over and guide us all.
Still teaching us even now, we were informed that her organs that she donated will be saving AT LEAST FIVE LIVES, and affecting countless more. May the person who gets her lungs cherish each breath they take with them as much as she did.
Natalia is survived by her mother, Galina Pozharsky; father, Dmitriy Parshin; father-in-law, Bill Vincent; mother-in-law, Judy Vincent; husband, WJ Vincent II; son, Tre Vincent; daughter, Alexandra Vincent; sisters, Veronika Zazovsky, Maria Pozharsky, and Valeria Parshina; brother, Andrew Pozharsky; cousins, Julia Hanson and Diana Koneva; aunt, Tatiana Rudenko; great-aunt, Baba Sanya; nieces, Grace, Brooke, Malasha, and Lucka; nephews, Xavier, Carter, Connor, Matvey, and Tristan; along with so many other extended relatives, in-laws, and friends who made what she felt was the best family ever.
She is preceded in death by her Grandma, Alexandra (Babushka), Grandpa, Vladimir (Dedushka), Grandma, Pelagea, and Grandpa Ivan.
A Russian Orthodox Service will be held at 3p.m. on Friday, January 6, 2012, at Lenmark Gomsrud Linn Funeral Home WEST CHAPEL, 1405 N. Clairemont Avenue, Eau Claire, followed by a visitation from 4 to 7 p.m. A Celebration of Life and a Time of Remembrance will be held at 11a.m. on Saturday, January 7, 2012, at Lenmark Gomsrud Linn Funeral Home WEST CHAPEL, with a visitation one hour prior to the service. Interment will be in Lakeview Cemetery, Eau Claire at 12p.m.