Joanne B. Quinn

Greece: Thursday, May 8, 2025. Joanne departed us to be with her beloved husband, Austin, of 60 years, in heaven.  Her family grieving their loss and cherishing her life are her children; David (Janice) Quinn, John (Teresa) Quinn, Thomas (Maureen) Quinn, Mark (Rebecca) Quinn & Mary Ann (Raymond) Sears; grandchildren, Christine Quinn, Kevin(Charmion) Quinn, Jillynne Quinn, Kelly Quinn, Marissa(Jude) Merit, Marie Quinn, Kathryn(Justin) Pecorella, Sarah(Phil) Rowland & Dorothy Sears; Great Grandchildren Madison, Athena, Colton, and Easton; Sister-in-law Jean Quinn; many nieces, nephews, cousins and dear friends. She was predeceased by her Grandson, Danny, and brothers, William and John.

She led an adventurous, often challenging 98-year life that spanned from early years in a “well-to-do” family prior to the Great Depression to a “working class girl” post-WWII when she met and married a “working class” WWII veteran, Austin. Austin was a loving husband, a person she could always trust and depend on, a tireless worker, and, to her, a perfect Father. She often told her children that she treasured his honesty and that he always put his family first.

She loved her extended family, including her in-laws Dorothy (Harry), Mae (Bob), Mildred (Clarence), and Emily (Bill).   She very much loved her brother Bill.  She was blessed by a lifelong adult friendship with her sister-in-law Jean. Jean was like a sister to her and is thankfully still with us.

She was much loved by so many of her nephews and nieces.  Joanne was a loving godparent to a fortunate few. Her niece, Sue Jackson, had a special place in her heart for her Aunt, who shared the same love. Sue maintained close and regular contact throughout her adult years and visited frequently from out of state. 

All 8! children of the Richard Quinn (Jean) family, spouses, and their children had special and lasting relationships with her.

She had close and intimately personal relationships with many of her grandchildren during their childhood and adulthood. These individual relationships seemed the most important to her, especially in her later years. What each Grandchild gave to her was rewarded many times over by what Joanne gave them in return.

Joanne had many close friends during her life—lifelong friends from as far back as her grammar school years, neighbors who became much more. She cherished her friendships. Sadly, most were only fond memories in later years. Friendship came easily, as even casual contacts were drawn in by her special ability to enrich their lives even “in the moment.” Joanne made people happy!

Younger generations of neighbors and providers became friends and support in her later years.   Patty made her hair beautiful weekly for years. In her care and attention, Patty was much more than “just” her hairdresser.   Joanne would not have been able to reside at Rye Road during the last year of her life without Faustas’ biweekly “visits”. During those hours, Fausta was much more than a caregiver to her. She was truly a blessing.

Dr. Robb both cared for her health and “cared” for Mom (and her husband, Austin) for many decades. He attended to her each day for the months she was hospitalized. It could not have been a coincidence that he entered her room for his daily examination seconds after she passed peacefully and suddenly. A kiss on the forehead was a usual Dr. Robb departing “handshake,” especially when she was very ill.

She loved dogs; Rex and especially Bauschy added so much to the quality of her life (and the quantity of her husband’s duties), although he eventually came around to appreciating what a faithful animal brings to a family.

Joanne had many interests, the most important being her Family. During her retirement years, she traveled with Austin, often taking cruises and enjoying vacations visiting her children and grandchildren in California, Virginia, and Europe. She remembered most fondly the time spent with her grandchildren during many of those vacations. She enjoyed attending concerts, and much to the dismay of Austin, the years of “performances” by their children. Her granddaughter Dorothy often sang to her at night. These were cherished moments for both in the later years. For many years, she played bridge, which was also an opportunity for a regular social gathering with friends.  Her Daughter-in-law, Janice, and granddaughter, Christine, were integral to her social life and care, including weekly pinochle matches for decades. She loved family dinners, Holiday events, and picnics with relatives in the backyard throughout the summer months in the backyard at Rye Rd. For over 50 years, she vacationed with her Family and the Richard Quinn family at the “Cottages” at Arrowhead Park in the Adirondacks.

She was a devout Roman Catholic, attending Mass daily for many years. She was an involved parishioner at St. John the Evangelist Church in Greece for over 70 years.

Joanne lived a long life, loved her family, and dedicated her life to the care of her family for nearly a century. Her passion in life was her family, and she will be sadly missed by all who knew her.

Friends may call Sunday (May 18^th) 1-4 P.M. at Vay-Schleich and Meeson, 1075 Long Pond Road. Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated, on Monday (May 19^th) at 10:00 A.M. at St. John the Evangelist Church, 2400 West Ridge Road. Interment in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery will follow Mass.  We will be having lunch for all who would like to join us at Thomas X Grasso Lodge at Greece Canal Park following the interment.

For those who wish to donate to one of her favorite charities, among many she often donated to the Audubon Society and the Humane Society at Lollypop Farm. 

LIFE STORY BY THOMAS 

Joanne Martha (Bennett) Quinn

Born 1/23/1927 to a prominent family in Rochester, New York, her father, William Walter Bennett, was an industrial engineer and a state amateur golf champion from New Hampshire. Her mother, Josephine Caroline (Rauber) Bennett was the daughter of the prominent Rochester family John Nicholas Rauber and Augusta (Ohlheiser) Rauber. Joanne had two older brothers, William and John.

Joanne’s grandfathers’ firm of Whitmore, Rauber & Vicinus was the preeminent general contractor of Rochester. Their work included the Hemlock Lake to Rochester waterworks conduit and many road infrastructure projects in Rochester and the surrounding jurisdictions. The Raubers were also associated with the Rochester German Brick and Tile Company, which owned their own quarry in Rochester. The Raubers were well known in Rochester’s social circles, holding memberships in Oak Hill and the Rochester Club. Joanne would swim at the pool at Oak Hill and also enjoyed swimming in Lake Ontario at the Rauber’s summer home on Rock Beach in Irondequoit. During the school year, Joanne would sometimes walk after school from her parents’ home on Mayflower Drive (one of the first homes built on that road) to her grandparents’ house on Highland Boulevard. There, she’d often enjoy a snack of limburger cheese with her grandmother.

Joanne’s father and her other grandparents, William Bennett and Martha (Pease) Bennett came from New England and resided in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Her grandfather started and managed the Morley Button Manufacturing Company that produced buttons for high buttoned shoes that were the rage of the late 19^th century. Bennett also had several sewing machine patents. Her grandmother had an old New England lineage that includes at least one person serving in the American Revolutionary War and goes back even further to the Taylor family, whose European roots include the family that served under William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings. Joanne’s Aunt Bertha Mae Bennett, called Daisy, was a kindergarten teacher in Portsmouth. Joanne’s Uncle Harold Hotchkiss (a family name) Bennett, known as HH, was an industrial engineer and a Harvard graduate of 1904, the same class as FDR. Harold was captain of the lacrosse team and played basketball there. He also penned “Vignettes of Portsmouth”.

Joanne, the name she adopted from her birth name Joan, was called Joey as a child (and sometimes even as an adult). She attended Sacred Heart Academy. By all accounts she was a bit of a tomboy, which became useful later in life when she had four boys followed by a lone girl. Her father’s job required him to be on travel frequently, so her mother managed much of their day-to-day family affairs. Josephine even drove a car, which was not unheard of in her day, but was still uncommon. Even as an adult Joanne never drove like her mother had. They were members of Oak Hill and Josephine was a board member for the Century Club. She was also president of Sacred Heart Alumnae Association, where she had executive roles in the annual Civic Music Association drives. The family was Roman Catholic and living their faith was important to them. When asked, Joanne would tell people her mother had a special devotion to the blessed mother. Their prosperous life turned for the worse starting when her father died just before her 9^th birthday from an illness attributed to his frequent travel. Her mother also died at a young age from illness when Joanne was just 15. Her grandparents had also passed by then.

Joanne went on to live with her Uncle John E Rauber in Manhattan, New York for part of the year and in Miami, Florida during the school year. There she stayed with her cousin Jane and his husband who was a WWII pilot and spy. Joanne attended the Miss Harris School with another cousin, Mary Jo. In the late 1930s and 1940s, Miami was a small town and a very different place than it is today. The school was on Bickell Avenue and extended out to Biscayne Bay, which today is occupied by high-rise office buildings. Miss Harris believed in the benefits of a natural environment and her classrooms were in open air pavilions. Following her graduation, Joanne moved to Boston and completed secretarial school there.

In the late 1940s, Joanne was looking to move back to Rochester but needed a place to stay. She responded to an ad for a border by Miss Tolan. As Miss Tolan was getting on in years, she was looking for someone to help her out on her farm. Joanne, with her socialite background, was no farm girl, however, after talking with Miss Tolan, they hit it off instantly. They bonded in part with their common love of Catholicism. At that time, the Historic Stone-Tolan house (as it is now called) was a large farm extending out toward Blossom Road. It is the oldest house in Monroe County. It was structured a bit differently at that time than it is now as it has been reconfigured to show the house as it was in an earlier era. Joanne’s children remember visiting Miss Tolan and sitting in the front parlor which had a magnificent organ. Eventually, some of the land was taken for I-495 and sold off; however, Miss Tolan donated a large parcel of land to the Sisters of Mercy. Miss Tolan became somewhat of a mother figure to Joanne and likely scrutinized the boy she went on a blind double date with. The date didn’t work out; however, the other boy, Austin Quinn, became the love of her life. Joanne moved out of the Stone Tolan house when she married Austin on June 16, 1951.

Joanne’s husband Austin had a much different upbringing than her. He grew up in the German ghetto section of Rochester during the depression. Needing to help support his family, Austin was already working at Kodak while attending high school. When WWII started, Austin joined the army and was detached to the army air force as it was then known. He served in Europe and supported the Normandy Invasion serving in St. Lo France. However, his primary duties were to repair aircraft bodies that had been shot up in battle so they could return to service. Returning to Kodak after the war, he was initially a sheet metal worker, but he also attended RIT at night. He earned his degree and became a construction manager, retiring after 42 years of service.

Joanne and Austin bought a small Cape Cod house in Greece. When Joanne’s relatives first saw it, they told her she bought a doll house. The coal furnace conversion to oil was one of the first upgrades made as Joanne had difficulty shoveling the coal and keeping the fire going. As time moved on babies arrived, first David, then John, then Thomas, and with Mark on the way, the two-bedroom house was not going to work, so an addition was constructed. Mary Ann came a short time later. In the early days, milk was delivered to the house by White Oak Dairy and a bread truck delivered bakery products. Weekly grocery shopping was at Star Market or Loblaws. Joanne learned how to economize and make use of S&H green stamps. The family attended St. John the Evangelist Church and supported building the current church as mass had been taking place in the school’s basement.

Joanne loved her family and summertime meant weekend picnics and swimming with Hamlin Beach, Letchworth, Mendon Ponds, and Stony Brook being the favorite parks. She frequently hosted picnics in her backyard and no picnic was complete without her Grandma Brown’s Baked Beans recipe with bacon, ketchup and brown sugar and Aunt Dorothy’s (Austin’s sister) German potato salad. Care always had to be taken playing pinochle if Bob (brother of Austin) was there as if you didn’t set your opponent and not get the associated nickel, you’d never hear the end of it. Incidentally Bob was a decorated WWII solider earning a purple heart and bronze star for his service in the Battle of the Buldge.

Joanne and Austin honeymooned in the Adirondacks near Old Forge and returned for many years to nearby Inlet with their family vacationing with Richard Quinn’s (Austin’s brother) family of eight children. As time went by and the children married, they’d bring their children. Joanne enjoyed a nice lunch at the Muffin Patch or other restaurants with her kids and grandchildren. She loved sitting on a beach chair or porch soaking up the sun and talking with relatives and friends.

Taking care of her husband and her kids was a primary focus for Joanne. She saw to it that all her children had a good college education. She also loved her house and would watch the birds out the windows. Eventually, several bird feeders were installed and upgraded to keep the squirrels away.

Holidays meant visits to family, including Austin’s brother Clarence and his other siblings. Thanksgiving was hosted by Joanne for her brothers Bill and John and their families. Christmas dinner was at John’s house and Bill hosted Easter dinner.

Joanne loved spending time with her grandchildren and doting over them. She had ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, all who loved her dearly.

Austin passed in 2011 however Joanne loved her home and remained there until she was 98. Following a brief illness, she passed away quietly on 5/8/2025. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her.