Francis X Quinn

Francis Xavier “Frank” Quinn of Walpole passed peacefully on July 15, 2024 surrounded by his loving family at the age of 79.  Beloved husband of JoAnn (Anelli) of 52 years.  Devoted father of Michael J. Quinn and his wife Nancy of West Medford.  Loving "Frank" of Lindsey and Nathan. Uncle of Walter Sheppard. Brother-in-law of Michael Anelli and his wife Linda and Carol Anelli and her husband William Styer. Frank is also survived by a huge extended family of cousins, whom he also loved dearly.

Frank was raised in the 1950’s in Jamaica Plain by a single mother and a large and loving extended family. He attended Boston Latin school, where he excelled in his coursework and rowed on the crew team, while working part-time at a TV repair shop and as a vendor at Harvard Stadium.
 
Frank earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fairfield University, where he was a co-founder and the first president of the school’s Rugby club. He went on to serve as a Staff Sergeant in US Army Intelligence. He met the love of his life JoAnn at a party in Boston in 1970. They were soon married and moved to an old farm house in Walpole where they raised their only son Michael.
 
Though he had been a gifted and dedicated social worker for many years, Frank looked for a new potential challenge. He collected his second master’s degree from Northeastern University, a school which ultimately introduced him to the Yankee Atomic Electric Company and who employed him for 25 years until retirement. In Walpole he volunteered thousands of hours of his time to Blessed Sacrament Parish as a Eucharistic minister and as one of many organizers of the annual Harvest Days festival.
 
Frank was a huge fan of our storied Boston sports franchises. When he wasn’t glued to a ballgame, he was developing an array of hobbies such as carpentry, and golf, but his favorite thing to do was art. He always had drawn outstanding pictures, and in the mid-80’s took a deep dive into painting on canvas. Frank ultimately joined the Foxboro Art Association in his retirement, a period in which he produced several hundred paintings of landscapes and portraits, his favorites of which were portraits of his own grandkids and other family members. (Though he loved painting Ortiz, Brady, and his other sports heroes too!)
 
In his later years, Frank drove with JoAnn to Medford every week for over a decade to watch and care for their grandkids while their parents worked, and they were able to form innumerable joyful memories for them at playgrounds, museums, restaurants, and beaches.
 
Perhaps Frank’s greatest gift was his ability to make close and lifelong friendships at every stage of his life.
 
Visiting hours will be held Monday evening from 4 to 8 at the Alexander F. Thomas and Sons Funeral Home 45 Common Street Walpole.  A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Mary’s Church Walpole Tuesday morning at 10:30AM.  Interment at St Francis Cemetery, Walpole.  Relatives and friends invited.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave. Floor 17 Chicago, IL 60601, or at https://act.alz.org/

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