Michael Vincent Vignola

It is with a heavy heart that the family of Michael Vincent Vignola announces that he has finally found rest. Michael passed away in his sleep at the well-travelled age of eighty-eight on the ninth of November, 2025 at Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community in Lawrence, Kansas.

Michael was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York – and in his heart he never left. Born on May 23, 1937 to Mr. Michael Vignola and Mrs. Mildred Simon Vignola, Michael was the oldest of three children. He was the quintessential bad boy and often found himself in hilarious predicaments. Brooklyn gave Michael many experiences and one was finding the love of his life, Joyce Ann Rondezza. Michael and Joyce married on May 9, 1964 – beginning a sixty-one year adventure. Together, they moved to New Jersey where they settled in Old Bridge and raised their two children: Michele Helen Vignola-Rogers and Glenn Michael Vignola.

Michael was a man of many stories. He spent over forty years as a truck driver, first for Vignola Haulage and later for TMS and Estes. He also served as an Auxiliary Police Officer for the Old Bridge Police Department. Many stories from his career and antics with his best friend Richie have seen regular retellings around both the Sunday and the holiday dinner table. When he was not on the road, Michael took care of his family in other ways. Be it working side jobs, cooking his famous Italian dinners, or getting under the hood of his teenager’s cars so they did not seize the engine, he was always quick to provide assistance. Even outside the family.

Michael was a simple man in his life and that expanded to his hobbies. He loved classic cars and the older they were, the better. While he was not much of a reader, he loved any novel written by the “King of Pulp Fiction”, Mickey Spillane. He loved his Westerns and later in life it was rare to find him without a John Wayne movie playing in the background. On the rare occasions that he allowed John Wayne to rest, he enjoyed hours of Tetris on his Nintendo DSXL. One thing reigned over all his other hobbies: The Brooklyn Dodgers. While he enjoyed the NY Yankees, KC Royals and baseball in general, he loved the Dodgers and used to say that “sports went to hell in a handbasket when Brooklyn Sold the Dodgers, that’s when owners realized they could make more money.” His family is happy that he was able to see the LA Dodgers win the World Series before he passed.

Michael leaves behind his wife Joyce Ann Vignola, his children Michele Vignola-Rogers and Glenn (Lin) Vignola, four grandchildren (Caelan Rogers, Sophia Rogers, Bianca Vignola and Fiona Lowenfels) and his beloved dog: Gidget. He was preceded in death by his precious pups: Auggie Doggie and Iggy.

A visitation will be held in Lawrence, Kansas at Warren-McElwain on December 5, 2025 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A celebration of life will be held in New Jersey in the Spring of 2026. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community in thanks for the wonderful care they gave him, Ascent Health (Hospice) in gratitude for their help and kindness in his final days, or the Lawrence Humane Society to help support their incredible mission.