Death and Memorial Notice
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January 17, 1990
July 24, 2010
Quinn Redlin Kintner lived an adventurous life, and her parents, William Robert Kintner and Kelsey Elise Redlin, got to go along for the ride.
Born in Port Angeles but almost immediately airlifted to Children's Hospital in Seattle, she courageously met a series of medical challenges throughout her 20 years.
She formed strong bonds with her caring doctors and nurses. Speaking from experience, she recently advised her uncle to avoid a grape Popsicle after surgery "because it makes your lips look blue and they think your [oxygen] sats are bad."
Quinn would light up a room with her irresistible smile and blond curls, drawing people to her wherever she traveled. Those fortunate enough to spend time with her liked seeing the world through her laughing eyes.
She loved extravagantly, and was unabashedly happy to see her friends or make new ones. She had an expansive idea of family. She believed attitude was everything.
Quinn loved to learn and worked with a number of creative and supportive therapists, aides and teachers throughout her school years. From her they learned persistence and delight.
Technology was a big part of her life. After learning to type on a computer in the second grade, she never stopped writing.
Immensely curious, smart and insightful, she journaled about her Thursday field trips, wrote poetry, Googled constantly and e-mailed friends and anyone she thought might have some research or expertise that interested her.
In response to her query, one researcher sent her a PDF of his paper outlining his lichenometric study in the Cascades, inviting her to use it as a basis for a similar study in the Olympics.
She responded, collecting data annually since 2004. She said that the slow growth of lichens taught her patience.
Her parents are blessed to have at least three terabytes of her extraordinary words, thoughts and ideas.
From her wheelchair, Quinn's spirit soared higher than the rest of us.
Her mom crawled through lava tubes with her at Mount St. Helens when she was 4. When her grade school surplused the classic slide from the playground (her favorite part of recess), she submitted a bid, won it and had it installed in her backyard.
She won a whitewater rafting trip on the Elwha and she went. Her dad carried her to the top of Holmenkollen in Norway so she could see what a ski jumper sees.
She was met with flower leis when she arrived in Tahiti and toured castles in Denmark. Quinn savored signed performances of Shakespeare in Ashland, Oregon, had her picture taken with Gloria Steinem in Florida, shared the same hotel as the Dalai Lama in Toronto, and visited her great-great grandparents' farms in Norway and Sweden.
She liked the Vancouver Art Gallery because her attendant got in free. She appreciated all the big spaces in the new Seattle Art Museum.
She was entranced by Degas' "Little Dancer" in Boston and laughed when they pulled the ramps out for her at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.
She loved to shop especially for shoes and bracelets.
To celebrate Lewis & Clark's Bicentennial, she followed their route by land and water from North Dakota to Washington and back.
An avid astronomer, Quinn specialized in naked eye observations such as zodiacal light.
Enabled by a variety of adapted equipment, she hiked trails in the Olympics and New Zealand, skied the Methow Valley regularly and canoed and sailed Lake Sutherland each summer.
She was featured in Peninsula Woman in March 2008.
Registering to vote on her 18th birthday, Quinn was politically active and opinionated.
Since her graduation from Port Angeles High School in 2008, she had been planning a single ticket trip around the world and pursuing online college courses. This summer she discovered the joys of auditing university classes.
With humor, creativity and determination, Quinn confronted physical and attitudinal barriers every day and became a passionate and empathetic advocate for accessibility.
She was recognized by the City of Port Angeles in 2008 for her efforts to evaluate the accessibility of city parks.
Quinn had a penchant for projects, the most recent being a written proposal for an accessible trail from Madison Falls to Altaire in Olympic National Park along the soon-to-be-freed Elwha River.
She believed that "everybody needs to watch the sun set from the Ridge, watch a meteor shower overhead as they fall asleep, watch river otters play in the water, identify a new bird, get to the top of a ridge for the view, find sea stars at low tide, feel the wind in your face as you ski downhill, or see butterflies gathered in a mud puddle next to a road."
On July 24th, Quinn died unexpectedly from complications of pneumonia. She still had so many plans.
A celebration of Quinn's joyous life will take place Thursday, August 12, at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 East Lopez Street in Port Angeles.
A celebration party will follow immediately in the narthex of the church. Quinn loved parties and would love for all to come.
Harper-Ridgeview Funeral Chapel, Port Angeles, is in charge of cremation.
In lieu of flowers, add your support to her trail project or share a smile with someone you meet today.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Quinn Redlin Kintner Endowment for Accessibility at the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, 939 Caroline Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
You are invited to contact Quinn's family at her e-mail address: quinn@olympus.net.
Last modified: August 07. 2010 12:07PM