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BY SUZANNE HAUGH
Staff Writer
DUNWOODY--Edward Quinn was “solid” like the coal from the
coal-mining city in Pennsylvania where he was born.
“He created warmth for anyone who gathered around him,” said his
longtime friend and UPS business associate, John Mascia, in his remarks to the
congregation at the funeral Mass celebrated for Mr. Quinn on Aug. 3 at All
Saints Church, Dunwoody.
Mascia joined hundreds of worshippers at All Saints to celebrate the legacy
of Edward G. Quinn, whose life ended July 29 during Mark O. Barton’s
violent rampage in the Buckhead financial district. Mr. Quinn had stopped
briefly that afternoon at the All-Tech Investment Group, where Barton killed
five people and wounded four others.
Mr. Quinn and his wife, Marie, have been “faithful parishioners”
at All Saints since 1986, according to staff member Patty Wolf.
“Everyone has said what a wonderful family they are, that they’re
very close-knit and very spiritual.”
Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan, pastor, was the main celebrant. He was assisted by
Father Liam Coyne, parochial vicar at All Saints, and Deacon Ray Egan.
Close family members gathered near the entrance of the church as Msgr.
Kiernan blessed the body of Mr. Quinn who, he said, was baptized in Christ now
to be reunited with him in the resurrection.
Mr. Quinn’s best friend, George Kuhn, his brother-in-law, Samuel
Agolino Jr. and his four brothers, Gerald, Joseph, Jack and Francis, surrounded
the casket as they and family members processed down the church’s main
aisle to the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
A nephew, Matthew Davis, delivered the first reading from Isaiah 25,
proclaiming that the “Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces ... let
us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
Family friend James Anderson read from the Acts of the Apostles, his voice
quivering as he read, “To (God) all the prophets bear witness, that
everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his
name.”
Deacon Egan proclaimed the Gospel of John 11: 21-27 in which Martha
professes her faith that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and that her brother
Lazarus will come to life again in the resurrection.
During his homily, Msgr. Kiernan acknowledged “the grief and
bewilderment” surrounding Mr. Quinn’s death.
“We’re drawn to this place by circumstances that have no rhyme or
reason,” he said. “The heaviness is compounded with a sense of
confusion and, like St. Thomas, we wonder: Has God forgotten how to be
gracious?”
Msgr. Kiernan challenged those gathered to find “honesty within
ourselves” when approaching this tragedy.
“(Don’t) allow this tragedy to become larger than life ... to
darken the sun.”
He reminded the congregation, “The fact of thorns does not cancel out
the fact of roses ... Life, my good people, is both good and bad, ugly and
beautiful, tragic and triumphant.”
People have searched out the meaning of such a tragedy. But even the sages
and saints throughout time don’t have the answer, Msgr. Kiernan said.
“What we need is not to understand (tragedy) but to accept it.”
There is no “solution for the hurt in our hearts,” he said.
“But if the hurt is to be handled creatively, it will be done with
spiritual tools.”
Money, power and other human inventions become impotent in the face of
tragedy, he said.
“We live to learn to love and laugh again and the thing that enables us
to do this is faith in God.”
Msgr. Kiernan reminded Mr. Quinn’s family and friends of his care for
others and love of golf.
“Ed would not want sadness, but would much more want to place a golf
club in the hand of everyone here ... (Ed’s) in the hand of God ...
Don’t be sad, have the heart to live.”
He offered one of the “spiritual tools” needed to move beyond Mr.
Quinn’s death.
“The vital function of a mature faith holds on to God in the dark until
one can walk back into the sunlight.”
Nicole Watson, a friend of the family, read the intercessory prayers.
Bringing up the gifts of bread and wine were Mr. Quinn’s nieces, Lisa
and Corinne Agolino, and nephews, Samuel and Joseph Agolino.
Mr. Quinn’s son Michael helped distribute the Eucharist along with
family friends Michael Norz, Maureen Dunn and James Rainsford.
Following Communion, Mascia was honored to pay tribute to his friend and
colleague.
“This is not the time to dwell on the tragedy that took him suddenly
from us,” he said, but on the memories he left with those in the
congregation.
Born in the coal mining city of Tamaqua, Pa., Mr. Quinn endured many
hardships as a young boy which included living in an orphanage with his four
brothers for a time.
“Ed was always focused, setting goals for himself at an early age and
seeing them through.”
He married Marie, “his best friend,” and together they have three
“beautiful” adult children: Michael, 30, Colleen E. Ellen, 27, and
Scott, 23.
“As a father, he instilled good values of love and spirituality ... He
was their strength in times of need and he always kept the door open for them
... He taught them unconditional love.”
Mascia also read the thoughts that his wife, Marie, wrote about her
“soulmate for 31 years and (her children’s) devoted father for 30
years.”
“When I first met him, I knew he was the man I would spend life
with,” she wrote.
Mr. Quinn’s children had also prepared their thoughts, which Mascia
read.
“Our father was our idol. We all want to be like him.”
His oldest son, Michael, who is involved in the young adult ministry at All
Saints and on the archdiocesan level, added these thoughts: “All we have
learned from him we will pass on to our kids. He was our role model.”
Mascia described his friend as strong in his religious beliefs, a golfer, a
fly fisherman and “into Notre Dame anything.”
Mr. Quinn became a grandfather for the first time when his daughter,
Colleen, delivered his grandson, Bryce, on July 4.
Already, Mascia joked, his friend was sharing his love of Notre Dame and
being Irish with his newest family member.
Mascia came to know Mr. Quinn through UPS, where Mr. Quinn started working
in 1964. He worked there for 31 years, retiring in 1995.
“I knew I wanted to be associated with him,” Mascia recalled.
“He was a man of integrity, a person of influence who cared for people. He
was held in high regard.”
Mascia then read from the thoughts of Samuel Agolino, Mr. Quinn’s
brother-in-law, who had had problems with addiction. Sammy celebrated his 10th
year of sobriety on July 4. When he needed strength, he had leaned on
“Eddie.”
“He would always say, ‘Keep going, don’t give up.’”
Sammy added that those would be Mr. Quinn’s words to those gathered at
his funeral Mass: “I know it’s going to be tough, but keep
going.”
As the smell of incense filled the church, Msgr. Kiernan blessed the casket
with holy water. The congregation recited the Our Father and Hail Mary, after
which the pastor prayed for the soul of Mr. Quinn.
The Notre Dame Fight Song played as pallbearers walked along with the
casket. Mr. Quinn was buried at Peachtree Memorial Park in Norcross.
The family requests that donations in his memory be sent to Food for the
Poor, Inc., 550 SW 12th Ave., Deerfield Beach, Fla., 33442.
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