Tribute

For Grandy, a great man
My Grandy was Peter Quinn, born January 26, 1941. He was a father to three beautiful children, Sharon, Tracey and Peter, as well as a husband, best friend and soul mate to Linda Bargewell Quinn. Peter passed away August 1, 2017, in the company of his wife, his daughter Sharon and his son Peter, after an almost two-year long struggle with cancer, full of wonderful days and not-so-wonderful days. But he was always positive during his treatment, and in the face of every single setback — “it is what it is,” he’d say. Peter was affectionately referred to as “Grandy” by most every family member I’ve met in my lifetime: his cousins, kids and grandkids alike. We were all immensely lucky to have spent time with him during his last few weeks; it was a rare time when almost all the family was together, and it was beautiful.
Peter was an exceptionally passionate man, no matter what he was doing. When he and Linda moved to Canada from Sunderland, England, in 1968, he worked tirelessly to support his family, first as an electrician and later retiring as Human Resources Manager in 1998 from St. Anne Nackawic Pulp and Paper. I’ll never forget scrunching my nose when we would drive past our local paper mill, while he would take a deep breath, laughing when he called it “the smell of money.”
After he retired, Peter and Linda began “snowbirding” to Arizona during the winter months to escape the colder Canadian weather. I know he enjoyed his time spent in his fifth wheel on the road, but I think what he really loved was spending that time with my Nana, although I’m actually convinced that one reason he loved Nana so much was for her top-notch meat pies and pasties, as well as for their shared love of fish n’ chips and a good shandy.
Some of my earliest memories of my Grandy are of him in one of his happiest places: standing tall, hands behind his back, feet spread apart, shouting at whatever hockey or soccer game happened to be on the T.V. He was very enthusiastic about his Saturday-morning “football” matches, but what he loved even more was seeing his grandkids enjoying the sport.
Hanna, his son’s daughter, is an avid soccer player, and her brother Noah a hockey player; he loved nothing more than cheering them on and watching them succeed doing what they love.
We all remember our Grandy for many, many different and equally wonderful things. His grandson Simon cherishes the manners that his Grandy taught him, and the respect with which he carried himself. His granddaughter Megan remembers sitting with him in Arizona, talking about life, taking his “no muss no fuss” perspective to heart and letting it shape who she became. She also can’t thank him enough for his kindness when he took care of her after she was badly injured in a motor-accident. Her brother, Brandon, recalls how his Grandy always helped him make the better decision, and always took time to be there for him no matter how far away he was; Brandon, and all of us, admire how strong our Grandy was, not only during the last year of his life, but throughout all the time we knew him. And I… well, I’ll always remember the times he told me to follow my dreams.
That was truly the most amazing thing about Peter Quinn. He had this way of making you realize that your dreams are right there, waiting to be chased, and he made you believe you could reach them. He made you want to reach them, just for him, because he had so much faith in you. And that’s the only way we can honor such a great man, really — we must continue doing what would make him proud, giving it our all every single step of the way. “Keep going. Never stop.”
Those were the last words my Grandy said to me, and those are the words we should live by.
– MacKenzie Wright Quinn-Sears, granddaughter