Bill Quinby, community builder and ‘moral compass’ of Cedar Rapids, dies at age 92

Bill Quinby was a doer.

If there was a project that needed a little help, a program that needed a boost or a person in need, Bill Quinby was the person to contact.

If you wanted to get information on a former athlete or a coach from many years ago, Bill Quinby was the person to call. If he didn’t know them personally, he knew somebody who did.

Quinby died in his sleep Saturday morning at the age of 92.

“Dad did it on his own time,” his daughter, Karen Delaney, said Saturday afternoon. “He was ready. He had a great run.“

He did indeed. Here are just a handful of the things Quinby played a role in around Cedar Rapids, a place he called home his entire life:

And more. Many more.

“He did a lot of good,” Delaney said. “But he had a lot of good done for him, too.”

Because he felt blessed his entire life to be part of this community, he and his wife of 62 years, Janis, decided giving back was going to be part of their legacy. Janis died in 2018.

Quinby, however, would never admit or take credit for the good he did.

“I didn’t do anything for the community!” he said during a 2023 interview with The Gazette’s Mike Hlas.

"Bill represents all that is good about us as people — humble, thankful, loving,“ Cedar Rapids City Council member and close friend Dale Todd said Saturday. ”Quietly and behind the scenes, he provided counsel and inspiration to several generations of leaders in our community and, when faced with tough choices, to make the right decision.

“I have often asked myself 'What would Quinby do?' He was our moral compass."

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz first met Quinby when Ferentz was an assistant in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. Ferentz’s father-in-law, the late Gerry Hart, was an official with Quinby.

"It's a loss for everybody,“ Ferentz said of Quinby’s death after Iowa’s final spring practice Saturday. ”Our association is kind of coincidental ... I met him when I was in the NFL and he was working, but then got to know him better when we moved back here. So through that relationship, our friendship kind of developed further, and he's been down to practice, those types of things.

"When you learn Bill's story and the things that he did. First of all, he's an all-Iowa guy. ... his community service and the things he meant to the people in Cedar Rapids — he's just a great human being. The more you visit with him, he's just a pure person, a really good-hearted man."

Former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, in 2008, wrote in the Congressional Record Quinby’s “life continues to be a model of ideal citizenship and embodies what it means to be an Iowan. Bill has spent his life living by a simple mantra: work hard and give back.”

Quinby grew up in northeast Cedar Rapids, not far from Daniels Park and the baseball field that now bears his name. It’s now the home field for the Coe College baseball program.

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An Iowa graduate and lifelong Hawkeye fan, Coe always had a special place in Quinby’s heart. He was the director of career counseling and the athletics director at the college. He’s a recipient of Coe’s Distinguished Service Award.

Sports, too, always were a big part of Quinby’s life. He was an official in the NFL for 17 years after working junior high, high school and college games. He was a teacher, athletics director and a principal in the Cedar Rapids school district for more than 20 years.

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One of his biggest projects was getting the “new” Veterans Memorial Stadium built in time for the 2002 season, working with Sarah Else, who co-chaired the Citizens for the Stadium committee, and many others.

“He’s such a steadfast, loyal friend,” Else said in that 2023 feature.

Former Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, who was chief executive officer of the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce while the new stadium was being built, said Quinby was “one of the greatest men I’ve ever known in my life” in that same article.

“He was a great mentor to me, though Bill would probably disagree with that. He looks at others as his mentors.”

A catcher on Franklin High School’s 1949 state championship baseball team, he played baseball at Iowa. He also was on the football team, but three surgeries on one knee in his senior year of high school and one on the other knee early in his days in Iowa City ended that career.

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One of Quinby’s favorite stories was when he was a student manager on the football team coached by Forest Evashevski.

“Evy took a liking to me,” Quinby said in that 2023 interview.

After a 1952 game at Minnesota, a Gophers fan charged at Evashevsi. Quinby took on the charging fan.

“I just stepped between them,” Quinby said more than 70 years later. “I biffed the guy right in the belly. He went, ‘Foof!’ He didn’t go down, but he was wobbly. From then on, my nickname with Evy was ‘Punchy.’ ”

Like everybody who new Quinby, Ferentz has enjoyed his many stories over the years.

“Bill’s just a really kind, genuine human being who has demonstrated through his actions that he really cares about other people,” Ferentz said in that 2023 article. “He cares about young people, and is just a truly caring, giving person.”

Comments: jr.ogden@thegazette.com