Elaine Quinn

Elaine Virginia (Losty) Quinn was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 7, 1934, to Mary Jane Losty, (nee Darragh), and Edward W. Losty. Elaine grew up in West Haven, CT, sharing many adventures with her younger brother, Bruce. They spent hours exploring what was then West Haven farm and marshland with an occasional visit to a forbidden swamp. As a teenager, Elaine was a champion high school swimmer who spent her summers lifeguarding on the West Haven shore. Looking out over the ocean Elaine dreamed of travelling so she joined the Navy's Reserve Officer Corps while in college at Southern Connecticut State University. Once graduated, she was commissioned in the Navy's WAVES as an Ensign and drove across country to San Francisco, her first duty station, where she served as a Communications Officer. During this time, Elaine began what would become a life time of service. Following her Naval service, Elaine returned to West Haven where she became an elementary school teacher and married Eugene Quinn. She and Gene moved to Mt Vernon, NY where their six children were born and raised. Here, Elaine engaged in her community as a super volunteer bringing innovative and exciting programs to children and senior citizens alike. She began paid work again first with the YWCA in White Plains, NY, where she built a fantastic swim team, the Middies, as the Aquatics Director, and then as the Assistant Director of the YWCA in mid-town Manhattan. Once her children were all off to college or beyond, Elaine moved to Massachusetts and began working at The Community Builders helping to bring quality housing to low income individuals and families. Her last assignment was back in New Haven, CT, where she ended up needing police protection as she pushed drug dealers out of the neighborhood, to help create a new livable neighborhood around Dwight St. Later, Elaine moved with her youngest daughter, Meg, to a multi-unit old Victorian home in that same neighborhood where she then "retired." Elaine filled her retirement with her passions: music, travel, grandchildren, pugs, her faith, and service. Like her mother Mary, Elaine loved the opera and classical music. She attended numerous concerts at the Yale School of Music and volunteered as an usher at the Shubert Theater. Elaine began her international travels in earnest, going to France, Italy, England, Ireland, Wales, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Morocco and South Africa. Many of these trips were with one or more of her daughters, to whom she passed on her love of exploration and adventure. Grandma camp, mystery reader, river floats, museums, Broadway theater, school plays, graduations, music concerts, sports meets of all kinds and lots of hugs are among the wonderful memories Elaine made with her six grandchildren, Greg, Natalie, Connor, Gavin, Quinn and Shane. Elaine's love for children extended beyond her own family, and really shone through when she was instrumental in starting a Montessori pre-school for low income children. Montessori School on Edgewood, in New Haven's Dwight neighborhood, which is still open today, was perhaps her proudest accomplishment. Her annual Chocolate Festival fund raiser to support the school became an annual event that the entire neighborhood looked forward to. Elaine spent her twilight years in Seattle and then Arlington, VA. Elaine enriched the lives of all who were lucky enough to meet her. She genuinely loved all people. She loved to laugh, converse, and smile. Elaine always had kind and encouraging words for those she met. She was a true friend whose friendships lasted a lifetime. Elaine is survived by her six children, Adrienne Quinn (Marianne), Maura Quinn (Dave), Kiernan Quinn, Eric John Quinn, Cristin Manning (Kirk), and Meghan Quinn (Robert) as well as her six grandchildren, and her half-brother Douglas Losty. Family will receive friends on Monday October 13, 2025 from 9:30 AM until the time of her service at 10 AM in the Clancy-Palumbo Funeral Home, 43 Kirkham Ave., East Haven. Her funeral procession will then leave Clancy-Palumbo Funeral Home for a burial with Full US Navy Military Honors at All Saints Cemetery, North Haven. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Montessori School on Edgewood, 230 Edgewood Ave. New Haven, CT 06511. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Elaine, please visit our floral store.