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This page is a pictorial history of Judy's dad, Wayne Quinn.
Wayne was born in 1911, and died in June of 1998. He was 87. We had the good fortune to have him as part of our household on two different occasions, and we all came to know and love him. Wayne told stories all the time -- he would get that smile on his face as above, and tell us about growing up on the farm, the log cabin, the first car, taking the horses to town, meeting his first wife Glendora, and on and on. So here's a few of his stories, with some of his pictures.
Buster's Garage
One of Pap's tales was of working in Buster's Garage in McGregor, MN. This has to have been when he was around 15 or 16 -- so 1925. Cars were pretty new to folk, and many a farmer bought one without having any idea how to drive the thing. This one farmer had been practicing with his new Chevy in the field, when he ran into a stump and seriously bent the front axle. He brought the car to Buster. "Can you fix it?", he asks. "Oh, I think we can do that, but it may take a week or more", replies Buster. The farmer leaves the car, and Buster tells Wayne, "Hook the chain up to that axle and to that pole there". So Wayne does that, and Buster tells him to give her the gas, backwards. The car lurches back, the chain straightens and BANG, the axle bends back a bit. Buster checks it out, and tells Wayne -- "Give her another shot". So Wayne backs her up and smacks it again. "That oughta do it", says Buster. The farmer came in a week later. Buster tells him, "It was a lot of work, but we got her straightened out".
Hunting with Neal Peppin
Pap loved to hunt, but in those times, hunting was also a way to put meat on the table. Pap would tell the story of baiting fish hooks with kernels of corn, and then putting them out into the corn field where the geese would come to feed. He and his brother George would lie behind a hay pile and wait for a geese to swallow a fish hook. Then they would reel them in -- fishing for geese.
When they went fishing, they were pretty creative also. Pap would take the boat out on the pond near their home and drop a short stick of dynamite down a pipe. The explosion would stun a bunch of fish, and they would take them home for dinner. I don't believe any of that was a legal way to take game, but those were different times, and meat and fish were hard to come by on the farm. Sport hunting and fishing had not come into their current popularity.
Glendora
Quinn
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Glendora as a
young woman |
Glendora with Nathan |
Wayne and Glendora were married
after the depression. Wayne was in
Aitken, MN, I believe, walking by the hospital, and there was this lovely young
lady looking out the second floor window of the hospital. He called up to her, "Would you
like some ice cream". She
boldly replied to this stranger, "Yes". Well, he went and got them some ice cream, and they courted
and married. Glendora was a school
teacher in a one room school house. Wayne had not finished 8th grade, and she spent some time
polishing him up for his eventual job as Supervisor of Greyhound Midwest.
Pap had always wanted to drive a Greyhound, and he got his wish in the early
40's. He worked his way up to
dispatcher and then district supervisor. Pap used to tell a story of how he pulled the bus into one
small northern Minnesota town, and when the police chief met him at the edge of
town, he told him that Lawrence Welk was playing at the dance hall that night. Wayne turned to the passengers and asked
who would like to do dance to Lawrence Welk for an hour. They all agreed, and off they went in
the big Greyhound.
Pap and Judy Quinn
Wayne and Glendora had some problems having children, so they decided to adopt. Their first child was a beautiful little angel named Judy. Here she is with the proud papa. T hey adopted 2 more children, Bill and Tom. Both are deceased -- Tom died in Vietnam, and Bill at a young age from pancreatic cancer.
Glendora with Judy and Bill
Judy says that she always felt dearly loved. Wayne and Glendora felt truly blessed with children.
Wayne and Irene Quinn
Grandpap Wayne Quinn and wife Irene
Pap came to live with us when
Glendora died -- after caring for her through a long, long illness.
Pap met Irene at a friend's house, and shortly thereafter proposed. He was a mere 74, and she a very young
62. They had some wonderful years
of love and friendship. Pap was
stricken with Alzheimer's, and then cancer. He came back to live with us his final year, and we had the
pleasure of his company, when he needed us. He was always a very gracious man, a true gentleman's
gentleman. He died here at home in
June 1998.