BUTLER, N.J. — Funeral services for John Quinn, OFM, 69, a professed Franciscan friar for 38 years, who died March 23, were held earlier this week.
A wake was held on March 28 at St. Anthony Church, in Butler, where a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated the following day. Provincial Minister Kevin Mullen, OFM, served as principal celebrant and homilist. Burial followed at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, N.J.
Early Years
John was born on Nov. 14, 1946 in the Bronx, N.Y., to John and Alyce (nee Holsten) Quinn. After attending a Catholic high school in 1964, he served in the U.S. Air Force.
He was received into the Franciscan Order in 1976 and professed first vows one year later. John earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University in the Bronx in 1979 and professed solemn vows in 1980.
Ministry
His first assignment after solemn profession was to St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, where he ministered for four years. In 1984, he moved to New York City where he served for two years on the staff of St. Francis Residence, which provides residential care and other supportive services for people with mental illness.
After spending a year at St. Anthony Residence in St. Petersburg, Fla., he returned to Manhattan in 1987 where he served for five years on the staff of St. Francis of Assisi Parish. John then began ministering at Fountain House, a residential care facility for mentally ill adults in Manhattan. He served there from 1994 to 1998 before spending three years at the Catholic Near East Welfare Association of the Archdiocese of New York.
John served one year in the Provincial Vocation Office before being appointed in 2003 as director of development for the Dominican Sisters of Caldwell, N.J. In 2005, he returned to the Bronx to serve at Holy Cross Church, working there for two years until he was transferred to St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Camden, N.J.
In 2011, John moved to St. Anthony Friary in Butler where he remained for four years. During this time, he served at nearby St. Anthony Parish. He moved to Holy Name Friary in Ringwood, N.J., in 2015.
John is survived by a sister, Alice O’Reilly, a nephew, Joseph O’Reilly of Belford, N.J., as well as grandnieces and a grandnephew.
Memorial donations may be sent to Franciscan Friars — Holy Name Province, 144 West 32nd St., New York, NY 10001-3202.
— Compiled by Carolyn Croke and Maria Hayes
Related Links
- “John Quinn Dies in New Jersey” — March 23, 2016, HNP Today