Vance Timothy Crotty, 25, passed away unexpectedly Monday, August 28, 2023. Vance was born January 1, 1998, as the first natural born baby in Columbus of that year. Vance was delivered into the adoring arms of his parents Mike and Maria (Mullins) Crotty. Vance graduated high school and was employed as a leadership apprentice at his parents’ company, Spirit Services, at the untimely moment of his passing. Vance leaves to cherish his memory his loving parents Mike and Maria Crotty; brothers Quinn Crotty and Grant Crotty; grandparents Ronald and Anna Marie Mullins; grandmother Nina Crotty and aunts, uncles, cousins and many other friends. Vance joins in the eternal rest of heaven his grandfather Timothy Crotty and was be deeply missed.
Vance was an active and driven young man. He was very athletic, playing lax and football under the tutelage of his father Mike. He loved to hike. Anything to do with being out in and communing with nature was a magnet to Vance. He found peace and simplicity in the natural awe of God’s creation, experiencing a restfulness of his soul which he could find nowhere else. This speaks highly to who Vance was in his tragically brief time with us. He was “tapped in” to the lines that read in between the narrative of daily life. He saw the spiritual and symbolic nature of all things which in its own way made him feel apart from those he loved who also loved him.
He was impressively wise beyond his years. He had an ability to see below the surface of the face value nature of any situation and garner insight and advice from it that would serve as a difference maker for whoever was struggling with it. This came from Vance’s deeply introspective nature. Vance had many struggles with which he was at constant battle. He was aware of the mountain he faced and, despite the ominous threat of its height, never once gave up on reaching the pinnacle of his potential. For all that Vance faced, there was always a light in him tenfold.
His brother remarked, in the days leading up to his passing Vance was evoking a message and a conviction of hope and most importantly a mission of love and loving. Vance was actively seeking to make his world right and was working on a personal relationship with the Lord. He was coming to understand that through faith and compassion, the greatest of wounds could be healed. Though Vance was unable to realize this healing while in the tender embrace of those who are left here in grief and in sorrow, he now knows the comfort and peace of heaven where there is no pain, no sickness, and no sorrow. The space Vance leaves in our lives is unfillable and the pain it causes cannot be numbed. This is because of how special and how very loved Vance was. Vance was the candle that burned too bright in its attempt to bring so much light to the world around him. Vance was the lamb that yearned so deeply for the safety and comfort of The Shepard that from the wilderness God called him home where he waits for us to be with him.
Friends may call Friday September 1, 2023, at DeVore Snyder Funeral Home in Sunbury, Ohio from 2pm to 4pm and then again from 6pm to 8pm. A Mass of Christian Burial was take place Saturday, September 2 at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Sunbury, Ohio at 11am. There was be a funeral procession after the mass to Kokosing Nature Preserve in Gambier, Ohio for a natural green burial. All are welcome to attend.
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