Mansfield Remembers Local Dynamo Timothy Quinn With Fundraiser

Tim Quinn was many things to many people – a talented multi-instrumentalist and longtime director of music at Windham Public Schools who performed with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, a respected mediator who served as Tolland County's Deputy Sherriff and as an auxiliary officer with the state police, a proud veteran who served in World War II and Korea, a shrewd politician who served for 18 years on the board of education and later as deputy mayor – the list goes on and on.

But above all, Tim Quinn was a committed family man who always put his wife, daughter – and later, his son-in-law and granddaughter –first, despite his many obligations.

“The one thing I learned in the 20 some odd years that I knew Tim was that, for all his interests, the one thing that was first with Tim Quinn was family,” said Mansfield Mayor Betsy Paterson. “We could use a lot more of that around today, a lot more civility and a lot more people willing to stand on their feet and say 'family first.'”

Quinn passed away in January at the age of 85, but his funeral coincided with a snow storm that prevented many from attending, so the Democratic Town Committee organized a memorial to give those who could not make it to the funeral a chance to pay their respects to a man whose influence was felt by so many.

The memorial fundraiser was held in the 's cafeteria Thursday night. The Democratic Town Committee collected donations and sold raffle tickets, donating all proceeds to the Mansfield Public School's music program.

The evening included two musical performances. A chorus composed of 40 Mansfield Public School students, 10 from each of the three elementary schools and 10 from Mansfield Middle School, sang “Music Alone Shall Survive.”

Later, Jeff Polak, a fomer student of Quinn's at Windham High School and Quinn's son-in-law Ken Clark performed a medley of Dizzy Gillespie's classic jazz standard “A Night in Tunisia” and “Caravan,” composed by Juan Tizol.

After the speakers finished, audience members who had something to share were welcomed to the podium.

State Senator Edith Prague, the second speaker, shared how Quinn affected her life from an early age. Prague and Quinn both grew up in Methuan, MA, back when he was known as Allan Quinn.

According his daughter Sheila Clark, he likely did not discover that his true first name was Timothy until he saw it on his birth certificate when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in his late teens.

“I remember Tim so well because we used to go to school and come home from school in patrols; you just didn't walk the street, you walked with a partner,” Prague said. “And Allan was a patrol leader. He had a white belt over his chest with a badge over his belt, and I had a mad crush on him. He was my first love.”

Even as a child, Quinn was a natural leader.

“He made sure all of us stayed on the sidewalk, and nobody ventured out into the street,” Prague said. “He was the boss man. Everyone did as he said.”

, who began her career in politics serving on the Mansfield Board of Education with Quinn, described him as a mentor who taught her the value of political strategy and the importance of understanding Robert's Rules, the complex rules of procedure used by most governing bodies in America.

“One thing I learned from him was how to count votes. You don't bring anything up for a vote until you know how many votes you have,” Merrill said.

Merrill also praised Quinn's unmatched powers of persuasion.

“I've actually never achieved the way he could do it,” Merrill said.”But he could start off a conversation with someone about something, and they would completely disagree with him.”

“But by the end of the conversation they would think that [what Quinn was arguing] was actually their idea,” she added.

One of Quinn's most memorable traits, his sense of humor and predilection for sometimes-racy jokes, was acknowledged by Merrill and several other speakers.

“Unfortunately I can't share too many [of Quinn's jokes] tonight because of the company we are in, and perhaps the location,” said Gordon Schimmel, who served as Mansfield's superintendent of schools during Quinn's 18-year tenure on the board of education.

presented Sheila Clark with a special citation that had been introduced in the Connecticut General Assembly by himself, Prague and State Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams.

Haddad recounted how Quinn broke the news to him that he would be elected Democratic Town Committee chairman at the meeting where the elections were taking place. He was surprised by the news, but Quinn's encouragement made him confident.

“He was someone who really made a difference by expressing some confidence that maybe you didn't see internally,” Haddad said. “For me, Tim will always be special for showing me this encouragement.”

Clark, who spoke last, recounted a detailed and colorful history of her father's life, including how, as a young man who lived through the Great Depression, Quinn developed the political and social views that influenced his politics.

“He could not fathom how anyone could look a child in the eyes and say 'I'm sorry, but because your parents messed up, you can't have any food,” she said.

Clark told the story of Quinn's father Thade Quinn, an Irish immigrant who married an English woman named Marjorie Ellershaw despite the prevailing animosity between the two groups.

She spoke about how the African-American men he served with loved and respected Quinn because he treated them as equals.

According to Mark LaPlaca, Board of Education and Democratic Town Committee Chairman, the event raised a little over $2,000.

Anyone who would like to make a donation in Quinn's memory can send a check made out to Mansfield Public Schools to the Democratic Town Committee, P.O. Pox 384, Mansfield Center.