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BORN
1925
DIED
2017
John Quinn Obituary
who spent half a century in the newspaper world and retired as Editor-In-Chief of USA Today, died July 11, 2017 of natural causes. He was 91 years old.
Quinn was the husband of the late Lois Richardson Quinn. They enjoyed 52 years of marriage, during which they made homes in Edgewood and Carolina, RI; Rochester, NY; Washington DC; and Cocoa Beach, FL.
Quinn was born in Providence in 1925, the son of the late John A. and Kathryn Collins Quinn. He grew up there, graduating from Classical High School in 1942.
Quinn began his newspaper career on Easter Sunday, 1943, as a night copy boy at the Providence Journal while attending Providence College, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1945. He went on to earn a Master's Degree from Columbia University School of Journalism in 1946, while also working on the overnight news staff at NBC in New York City.
He returned to The Providence Journal reporting staff and worked through the ranks of assistant city editor, Washington correspondent, and was day managing editor of the Journal Bulletin when he left in 1966 after 23 years on that news staff.
Quinn joined Gannett Co. Inc. as executive editor of its two Rochester, NY, newspapers, the Democrat and Chronicle and the Times-Union. He later added the role of President of the Gannett News service, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service during his tenure.
He was promoted to the corporate staff of the nationwide Gannett Newspaper Group as its chief news executive and served as news planning leader for USA Today, later becoming its editor-in-chief.
During his news career Quinn served as national president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association. He was named Editor of the Year in 1986 by The National Press Foundation and he received the Women in Communications Headliner Award in 1986, the William Allen White Citation in 1987, and the Paul Miller Oklahoma State University Medallion in 1988.
He was named to the Rhode Island Hall of Fame in 1975 and received honorary degrees from Providence College, Bryant College, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, and Roger Williams College.
He retired from Gannett on Easter Sunday night, 1990, 47 years to the hour after his first night as copy boy at the Providence Journal.
Quinn then became deputy chairman and a trustee of the Freedom Forum, an international foundation dedicated to the enrichment of free press, free speech, and free spirit. In recent years he served as an advisory trustee.
Following the death of their oldest son, John C. Quinn Jr., in 1990, John and Loie Quinn founded the Chips Quinn Scholars Program to offer training, internships, and scholarships to college journalism students of color as an effort to bring greater diversity to the nation's news staffs. It has more than 1,300 graduates, the large majority of whom are in news staff careers across the USA.
In recent years, "johnandloie", as they were known to family and friends, dedicated themselves to the continued preservation of the historic Carolina village. They acquired and restored the two-hundred-year-old Carolina Mill and refurbished many of its deteriorating buildings as a historic center, conservation space, and part-time home.
Quinn is survived by his daughter, Lo-anne Quinn Cellar and son-in-law Charles J. Cellar of Carolina, RI, and Cocoa Beach, FL; his son, Richard Burnham ("R.B.") Quinn and daughter-in-law Mindy A. Merrell, of Nashville, TN; and two grandchildren, Stephen C. Cellar and Amelia Q. Cellar of San Francisco, CA. He was the father of the late John "Chips" Quinn, Jr., and Christopher "Kiffer" Quinn, and the brother of the late Kathryn Q. Coletta.
His funeral will be held on Saturday, July 15th at 9:00 a.m. from the Carolina Mill, 6 Carolina Mill Lane, (off 112) Carolina, RI. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. in St. Mary's Church in Carolina. Burial will follow in White Brook Cemetery, Carolina. Visiting hours will be in the family center in the restored Carolina Mill on Friday from 5-7 pm.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to The Carolina Preservation & Band Society, a non-profit organization founded by Quinn which funds projects dedicated to the preservation of the historic village of Carolina, RI (P.O. Box 44, Carolina, RI, 02812). Information and condolences please visit: www.galloglyfuneralhome.com
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for John Quinn
Catherine M. Naylor- Price Presley
July 30, 2017
Lo-Ann, RB & Family, I am so sorry for your loss. JohnandLoie were special people. I feel privileged to have know them. Your Dad was such a great man and a great newspaper man. My dad built some of the presses that the newspapers were printed on. Our Thoughts and Prayers are with you in your time of loss. Cathee Naylor
Dorothy Bland
July 26, 2017
I consider myself a student of John because I learned so much from him about the art of nonfiction storytelling, leadership, style and grace during my days at USA Today. Prayers are with John's family.
July 18, 2017
Heartfelt condolences are extended to your family at this difficult time. Seek the love and support God provides to help you cope during this time - Psalms 29:11
Mary
July 18, 2017
Was my commencement speaker at PC...sending my condolences...
July 14, 2017
Carolina won't be the same withiout him although his vision that so improved Carolina will endure. My prayers are with Mr. Quinn's family. God Bless you all. Peace, Brenda Melbourne Pater and John Pater
Dave Peyton
July 14, 2017
Condolences to the family. I live in Huntington WV and worked at Gerald-Dispatch, formerly a Gannett paper. John visited several times and I found him to be a real person. I considered him a friend along with his son Chips.
Kathi Noonan
July 14, 2017
Sorry to hear of your Dad's passing. He was quite a man. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Brad Johnson
July 13, 2017
For the Quinn family:
We at the Johnson family remember John. He had the love of South County, in
his part of Carolina, as did my father, Al Johnson, did in his secluded
Green Hill Beach. We were often in Carolina, attending the 8 a.m. Mass at
St. Mary's. And back in the day, I worked at the Journal (copy boy, later
state staff reporter) and remember the day when the news came that Quinn was
leaving the Journal. How could he leave the Journal? Wow! I can see him
striding quickly out of his office on the third floor newsroom on Fountain
Street, a stack of copy for the city desk. And if my memory is good, I
taught accounting to Chip at Providence College. The Quinn family, very
special people.
Around our house, and the newsroom, it was always "Quinn," sort of like the
army, the use of a last name. Every so often I would see Quinn, tall and
slender, talking with Al, short and sitting back in his seat at the city
desk. After 56 years at the Journal, Al retired and left me tens of
thousands of words in notes and memos about the Journal and its people.
Quinn is there. He was, like Al, also I believe, a contributor to the "In
Perspective" space, signing as J.C.Q.
We knew him as a newspaper man. I supposed today one would say: journalist.
But to me, Al and others, he was a special person and a real newspaper man.
We miss J.C.Q.
July 13, 2017
Mr. Quinn was a wonderful person. I grew up in Carolina, and got married last year in October. I called Mr. Quinn to see if we could take some wedding pictures at the mill. He could not have been more gracious,he said yes and he wished he would have been in town that week,because we would have shared a drink together to celebrate.
He was a true gentleman,who allowed me to fulfill a dream that a girl had.
Thank you to him and his family,my thoughts and prayers are with you.
Cheryl Newquist
Tom Donovan
July 13, 2017
I was saddened to hear of the passing of my friend John.He was much more than a friend. I loved him like a father. He always treated me with dignity and respect. I met him and Loie in 1983 and we have been friends since. I had the privilege of maintaining his lovely home"The Folly" all the while he was the owner. I was blessed with being a "surrogate" member of his family. He was always a warm and caring person. God Bless You John. I will miss you and I will never forget you.
Karen Donovan
July 13, 2017
I'm so glad I knew such a kind, generous man. I find myself feeling very fortunate to have been able to visit the house in Rhode Island (I believe he affectionately called it the "Field House"...so many years ago!), and of course The Folly was always a treat. RIP John.
Anne Peters
July 13, 2017
What a journalist -- storyteller, historian & muckraker. A tradition he nourished with the Chips scholars
A family man who so treasured his kids & grandkids.
Showing 1 - 13 of 13 results
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