Jesse Joseph “Sonny” Quinn Jr. had a “pure heart” and was the kind of big brother everyone wished they had, says his younger brother, James.
“He definitely was his brother’s keeper,” James Quinn said. “He kept me out of trouble.”
Mr. Quinn, 78, of Grapevine, Texas, formerly of Greenwood, passed away Tuesday. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church.
Mr. Quinn ran the company’s roofing business, Greenwood Sheet Metal and Roofing Inc., formerly known as the Greenwood Sheet Metal Works.
“The roofing business was physically demanding,” his brother said.
Mr. Quinn was the oldest of four sons of Jesse and Mary Lois Quinn of Greenwood. When he was 13 and his brother was 8, they had to unload a semi-trailer of roofing shingles.
With James Quinn on one end of the bundle and Jesse Quinn on the other, the pair would manage to unload the whole trailer. In time, James Quinn said, he was able to lift a bundle of shingles all on his own.
“We grew up working. At night, we’d have butter biscuits and molasses. It might as well have been steak and potatoes,” he said.
A graduate of Greenwood High School, Mr. Quinn graduated first in his class as a civil engineer at Mississippi State University. He served in the peacetime U.S. Air Force, attaining the rank of first lieutenant.
He married the former Anna Faye Jacks of Greenwood on June 3, 1956. Upon his honorable discharge from the Air Force, he returned to work with his parents.
In its heyday, Greenwood Sheet Metal, a company founded by Mr. Quinn’s father, was busy with roofing jobs involving schools, shopping centers and industrial complexes.
“Jesse did all the estimating. He went from Greenville to Columbus, from Memphis to Jackson. ... He was a perfectionist about the quality of his work,” James Quinn said.
At one point, the Greenwood roofing company had as many as 30 to 40 employees, he said.
Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham said Mr. Quinn “was never at a loss for words” and “always had a great attitude.”
“Jesse was one of the first clients I had when I started practicing law in 1975,” Abraham said.
Mr. Quinn retired from the family roofing business about a decade ago. He and his wife moved to Grapevine about a year ago to be closer to their son, Patrick, and his family.
A longtime member of Immaculate Heart, Mr. Quinn was a fourth degree member and former state deputy for the Knights of Columbus of Mississippi. He played a key role in organizing the group’s annual Tootsie Roll Drives, which aided the mentally handicapped children of the state.
“That was his outlet,” Quinn said.
Mr. Quinn’s tenure as state deputy was so outstanding that he and his wife were given a free trip to Europe for all of his hard work, his brother said.
James Quinn said his brother never met a stranger.
“Wherever he is, he is talking and visiting with someone,” he said.
Mr. Quinn was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, William.
He is survived by his wife, two brothers, four children, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
