Rev. Joseph M. Quinn

PITTSFIELD -- The Rev. Joseph M. Quinn, CSC, 84, died Wednesday at Holy Cross House at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

Born in Pittsfield on July 14, 1923, son of Michael and Anna Poppor Quinn, he attended local schools and later entered the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1942 and made first profession of vows in 1944. Following studies at Our Lady of Holy Cross Seminary in Easton and the University of Notre Dame, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 6, 1950.

Father Quinn assisted the servant of God, the Rev. Patrick Peyton, as associate director of the Family Rosary Crusade in Albany, N.Y., from 1950 to 1955. In 1955, he was named the vocation director for the eastern province of the Congregation of Holy Cross. In 1957, he returned to the Family Rosary Crusade, where he remained until 1968. During his time with Family Rosary, he traveled the world, preparing for the Family Rosary Crusades in Australia, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States.

In 1969, he began a long period of pastoral service in parish ministry. From 1969 to 1972, he was the assistant at St. Joseph's Parish in Bronx, N.Y.; from 1972 to 1989, he was pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Bennington, Vt.; and from 1990 to 2000, he was pastor of St. Patrick's Parish in Wallingford, Vt. In 2000, he was granted senior status and moved to the Holy Cross residence in North Dartmouth, where he was active in ministry and assisted in neighboring parishes. In 2006, because of declining health, he moved to Holy Cross House, the congregational infirmary on the campus of Notre Dame.

He performed countless baptisms, first communions and weddings of his family members, and his ministry spanned their generations. He was a fan of the Boston Red Sox and of Notre Dame football.

Father Quinn leaves a brother, Thomas Quinn of Maine.

FUNERAL NOTICE -- Services for Father Joseph M. Quinn, who died Wednesday, July 18, 2007, will be Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Chapel of Mary at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. A Wake Service will be held at 8:30 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Chapel of Mary at Stonehill College. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Community Cemetery on the Stonehill Campus. Arrangements are by KANE FUNERAL HOME, 605 Washington St., Easton. May he rest in peace. Father Quinn will be remembered as a kind and compassionate priest, friendly and outgoing, easy to be with. He delighted in the warm relationship that he sustained with his large family. He is mourned by his religious brothers in the Congregation of Holy Cross, who valued him as a dedicated and zealous priest and as a generous participant in their community life. Survivors also include his sister-in-law Edna Quinn, and brother-in-law, George Tagliente. He was the beloved uncle of Linda and Michael Gaffney, Karen, Timothy, Joseph, Stephen, Michael and Edward Quinn, Bridget DiCarlo, Patricia Rudd, Colleen Snyder, Erin Stitt, Kelly LeBarron, Anne O'Connor, Christine Roche, and George, Peter, James and Patrick Tagliente. Numerous grandnieces and grandnephews also mourn his loss. He was predeceased by his sisters, Elaine Quinn Tagliente and Mary Quinn Gaffney; by a brother, William Quinn; and by his nephews, Daniel and John Tagliente.