By David MacDonald
david@peicanada.com

Margaret Quinn was the sort of person who gave a lot of herself to everything she did, and much of it was for the benefit of her home village of Cardigan and other eastern PEI communities.
Mrs Quinn died Saturday morning at the Kings County Memorial Hospital in Montague at age 88. She had six children, 22 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren.
Her funeral was held Tuesday at All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Cardigan.
Mrs Quinn was a pillar of her community. Among a long list of her accomplishments was being named Islander of the Year in 1983. She was also a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Ladies Auxiliary in Cardigan and was once president of the PEI Crafts Council.
But she was also known as a tireless volunteer who enjoyed knitting and weaving everything from quilts to socks and mittens, and her fudge, pickles, jams and jellies were enjoyed by all.
While many of those items were sold to raise money for good causes, Mrs Quinn also knitted and baked for family, friends and neighbours. As late as last week while in her hospital bed, she finished knitting a pair of socks for someone in the community.
She was devoted to her family. Her granddaughter Roberta Yorston said Mrs Quinn never missed a birthday, concert or special occasion involving family, and she was a huge hockey fan who could argue hockey stats and facts with her 14-year-old grandson.
Mrs Quinn was born in Buckinghamshire, England on May 18, 1924, but she chose eastern PEI as her home after the Second World War following her marriage to Cardigan native John Quinn, who served in the Army and was stationed in England.
She met her future husband at a dance in Eden Bridge, England in 1943. At the time Mrs Quinn was working at a War Time Nursery, a home for children whose fathers were off at war and mothers were working at the factory making ammunitions.
“I remember Mom telling me many times that she saw this nice young fellow from away and I hope he asks me to dance, and he did,” Mrs Quinn’s daughter Theresa Kenny said.
The couple married on November 3, 1945. Ms Kenny said her mother arrived on PEI first to fix up the old Cardigan homestead before moving here in July of 1946, landing initially at Pier 21 in Halifax.
Once in Cardigan, Mrs Quinn soon became an important figure in the village. One of her major achievements was establishing the Cardigan Craft Guild back in the 1970s.
Nora MacDonald, who was involved in the original fundraising to purchase the old train station which would become the Cardigan Craft Guild building, said the craft centre drew people to Cardigan and is an important institution for the craft community in eastern PEI.
“For Cardigan and the surrounding area, it is an outlet for people to sell their crafts and make a little bit of money, and to further their own skills,” Ms MacDonald said. “It was also a social thing.”
Ms MacDonald recalled the early days of the guild when crafters took courses in weaving, leather work or other disciplines and then taught classes to other aspiring crafters.
Mrs Quinn herself was well-known for her skills at knitting and weaving, and those skills extended to the Victory Chimes Senior Citizens Club. The group raffled off a quilt each year for various charities, and made numerous quilts for the Kings County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary to sell at the Nearly New Shop.
“Margaret had the energy of five people,” Ms MacDonald said. “The wheels were always turning in there.”
Mrs Quinn was an active member of her parish in Cardigan. Resident Marilyn Callaghan said Mrs Quinn was a member of the Catholic Women’s League and was instrumental in the success of the church’s weekly card games.
“She was very generous,” Ms Callaghan said. “At the first of the year, she would organize the supper for the people who came to the card games. This year (in October) she baked 12 pies.”
She said Mrs Quinn had a genuine concern for people and besides baking and knitting for others, she would often be there for the sick and shut-ins in their time of need.
“She kept lots of people warm and well-fed in the winter,” Ms Callaghan said. “She was a very prayerful person. She probably prayed more in a day than many of us do in a week. She was a real treasure of a lady.”
The card games will go on but “they will be missing a great person,” Ms Callaghan said. “Some people will have to take up the tasks. She certainly did a lot of work that nobody knew about.
Zita Boudreault of Montague knew Mrs Quinn for the past decade, and was impressed with the Cardigan resident’s many accomplishments. Mrs Boudreault and Mrs Quinn were among a group of people who went to a spiritual pilgrimage in Medjugorje, Bosnia back in 2008.
Mrs Boudreault would also go to Mrs Quinn’s house every Tuesday for bridge.
“She had a wonderful sense of humour and was very knowledgeable about many things,” Mrs Boudreault said.
“I love her dearly. She’s always worked for someone else. She shared everything she had. She could see the goodness in anyone, and she had a charming way with people.”

Photo: Family was an important part of Margaret Quinn’s life. She had six children, 22 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren. Seen here are, from left are, Mrs Quinn’s daughter Theresa Kenny (holding infant Anna Kenny), Margaret Quinn, and Mrs Quinn’s granddaughter Roberta Yorston. Submitted photo