IN MEMORY OF VINCENT CROWLEY JR.
A Light in a Dark Room
June 19, 1981 — November 30, 2025
Some people leave an impact that is difficult to explain.
My cousin Vincent Crowley Jr. was one of those people.
To me, Vincent was a light in a dark room. He was someone I could talk to about almost anything—building, business, family, the things we had lost, the people we had lost, and strategies for bringing people together.
We would talk for hours, whether through phone calls or text messages. We laughed. We joked. We challenged each other. We dreamed. And when we started creating ideas together, it felt like we were gunpowder—once the ideas started flowing, there was no telling where they could go.
Vincent had a way of pushing me toward my greatness even when I couldn't see it in myself.
He would remind me:
“Don't get down on yourself, cuz. You are way ahead of the game.”
And he meant it.
He was an uplifter.
What makes those words mean even more to me is that Vincent was encouraging me while carrying his own struggles and pain. He would remind me that I could take a break—but never quit. He believed I was different. He believed I was special.
And I thought the same about him.
A BUILDER, TEACHER, FATHER, HUSBAND & FRIEND
Vincent was an educator, coach, engineer, technologist, husband, father, friend, and creator.
He graduated from Lafayette High School in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1999. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Missouri State University in 2004 and a Master of Science degree in 2012. He worked in engineering and technology while also dedicating himself to teaching, coaching, and mentoring.
He was passionate about engineering and shop classes and loved coaching wrestling, soccer, football, robotics, and Science Olympiad.
But there was another side of Vincent that meant a great deal to me:
He loved to build.
He enjoyed creating things with 3D design software and 3D printing. He liked tinkering. He enjoyed making things with his own hands.
That part of him connected deeply with me.
We would talk about building, inventing, and creating. We would talk about my father and how he made things, drew diagrams, developed ideas, and built with his hands.
Vincent carried some of that same spirit.
He wasn't simply someone who talked about ideas.
He was a builder.
FAITH THROUGH THE STRUGGLE
Vincent lived with kidney disease for many years, beginning with his diagnosis in 2008.
Yet his illness did not define the entirety of his life.
He continued being a husband, father, teacher, friend, spiritual companion, and someone who poured himself into the people around him.
His faith was visible in the way he lived and in the conversations he shared with others.
He understood struggle.
He understood pain.
But he also understood joy, hope, love, healing, family, and triumph.
That is part of what made his encouragement mean so much.
He wasn't telling me to keep going because life was easy.
He was telling me to keep going because he understood what it meant to keep going when life wasn't easy.
THE CONVERSATIONS
Some of the things I remember most are the conversations.
Hours of them.
Business.
Ideas.
Family.
My father.
Things we wanted to build.
Things we wanted to change.
Things we had lost.
Ways we could bring people together.
We were family, but we were also thinkers, builders, and dreamers who could feed ideas to each other.
Vincent's guidance and words will always resonate with me.
There are conversations that end when the phone hangs up.
And there are conversations that continue shaping you long after the person is gone.
Ours are the latter.
HIS LEGACY
Vincent touched many lives.
His influence reached beyond our family through education, coaching, engineering, mentorship, friendship, faith, and the people he encouraged along the way.
His legacy is not simply measured by what he accomplished.
It is also measured by the people who became better because he believed in them.
I was one of those people.
And I will carry that forward.
WHY VINCENT BELONGS IN THE XATITI STORY
XATITI is about building.
It is about ideas becoming reality.
It is about connecting people.
It is about family, history, creativity, technology, business, community, and the future.
Vincent understood many of those things long before XATITI became what it is becoming.
He understood the importance of creating.
He understood the importance of family.
He understood the importance of faith.
He understood the importance of encouraging somebody when they couldn't see their own potential.
And he understood that an idea can become something real when people are willing to build it.
That is why I cannot tell the story of XATITI without telling the story of Vincent.
WHEN XATITI RISES, HE RISES WITH IT.
Every project I build, every idea I develop, every person I encourage, and every piece of this ecosystem that becomes real carries something forward.
His words.
His encouragement.
His creativity.
His belief.
His memory.
Vincent Crowley Jr. may no longer be here physically, but the impact he made did not leave with him.
He is part of the foundation.
And when XATITI rises, he rises with it.
IN LOVING MEMORY
Vincent Crowley Jr.
June 19, 1981 — November 30, 2025
A husband. A father. An educator. A coach. An engineer. A creator. A believer. A friend. A cousin. A light.
Your pain is gone.
Your love remains.
Your words continue.
Your legacy lives.
Rest well, cuz.
