Quinby leaves an amazing legacy

It’s difficult to pick which was more impressive about Bill Quinby. Was it his own efforts to give back to the community he loved? Or is it the fact he’s inspired generations to embrace community service?

Of course it’s both.

Quinby died Saturday at the age of 92 in the community where he lived his whole life. And the sort of accolades he would have humbly waived off are pouring in. Cedar Rapids lost a friend and leader who changed the face of the city for the better in so many ways.

"Bill represents all that is good about us as people — humble, thankful, loving,” Cedar Rapids City Council member and close friend Dale Todd told The Gazette’s J.R. Ogden. "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,” Todd said.

That compass led Cedar Rapids in the right direction.

There was Quinby’s love for athletics. He was on Franklin High School’s 1949 championship team and played ball for the University of Iowa. His football ambitions were dashed by injuries, but he was the top manager for legendary coach Forest Evashevski. He was a referee in the NFL for 17 years.

When you’re sitting in the summer sun at a Kernels game, you can remember how Quinby was a key leader in raising public funds for Veterans Memorial Stadium that likely saved minor league in Cedar Rapids.

If you catch a Coe College home baseball game, it will be played on a field Quinby tended for decades, which now, fittingly bears his name.

There was education. Quinby worked as a teacher, athletics director, and principal in the Cedar Rapids Community School District for more than two decades.

And of course there was public service. The list of efforts and organizations Quinby helped is remarkably long. Among them is Habitat for Humanity, the East Central Iowa Special Olympics, The Community Health Free Clinic, the Cedar Rapids Board of Ethics in Government, the ARC of East Central Iowa, Camp Courageous and the Cerebral Palsy Association, just to name a few.

“Bill'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,” former Iowa U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin read into the Congressional Record in 2008.

Quinby’s spirit of community service lives on. His compass will continue to guide us.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com