Rodney S. Quinn, the Gorham native who retired as a lieutenant colonel after a 27-year military career and then rose to the job of Maine secretary of state, died Saturday, Oct. 27.
His family said he died at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House after being stricken with pneumonia two days before. His death follows that of his wife, Melba Quinn, earlier this month. They leave four children.
Quinn enjoyed a few careers. He was a college instructor, and in World War II flew with the Flying Tigers in China. During the Korean Conflict, he commanded an air transport squadron, and the University of Southern Maine was among the colleges where he taught. In recent years, Quinn wrote a column for Current Publishing newspapers.
“He had a fascinating life,” his daughter, Kate Gartland of Biddeford, said Monday.
Quinn and his wife had recently moved to Westbrook from Mighty Street in Gorham.
“We all will miss Rodney’s unique and reliably provocative columns,” said Jane P. Lord, executive editor at Current Publishing. “Regardless of whether people agreed or disagreed with him, ‘Quinn’s Corner’ was always a great read. He was a gentleman, a scholar and someone I feel honored to have known”
Lord said that Quinn always made sure the newspapers had a few columns in advance, and his family has given permission to publish these in the coming weeks.
Gartland, a nurse, said she cared for her father at his home when he was taken ill on Oct. 25. Gartland said he declined to go to a hospital emergency room, was taken to Gosnell Memorial Hospice House.
Born in 1923, he was raised and educated in Gorham. He lived with his mother, Edith, who ran a boarding house for boys attending the Gorham Normal School.
A leading Democrat, Quinn served in Legislature representing Gorham, and then as secretary of state from 1979 to 1988. He was elected to the Gorham Town Council in the 1970s. In tours of Maine, Quinn had escorted a presidential candidate, Walter Mondale, and on another occasion, Rosalynn Carter, wife of President Jimmy Carter.
Brenda Caldwell, chairwoman of the Gorham Town Council, said Monday that Quinn worked hard for the town, and in recent years used his influence to benefit the town.
Besides writing the newspaper column, Quinn also authored several books, including “Gorham During the Great Depression,” published in 2002. He gave the copyright to the Baxter Memorial Library.
Quinn was a key figure in relocating Gorham’s antiquated town hall in a small brick building on School Street to a new municipal center on Main Street that opened in 1974.
Caldwell said Quinn was a Gorham councilor when she became the town clerk in 1975. She said Quinn didn’t always follow party lines, and did what he felt was best for Gorham.
“He was a role model,” Caldwell said. “He was a true statesman from Gorham.”
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