{"id":1930,"date":"2019-03-11T13:34:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T13:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=1930"},"modified":"2025-03-27T16:10:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T20:10:13","slug":"a-lasting-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2019\/03\/11\/a-lasting-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lasting Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52\"]{display:block;padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-md, 2rem);text-align:center;font-size:var(--global-kb-font-size-sm, 0.9rem);font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<span class=\"kt-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52 wu-subheading wp-block-kadence-advancedheading has-kb-palette-14-color has-text-color\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_63ee2c-52\">Donna and Bill Quinn hold a photo showing Mark Quinn (far right) at his nephew\u2019s 2012 wedding in Washington D.C.<\/span>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1930_acae76-05{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column1930_acae76-05 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1930_acae76-05 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1930_98fc91-97\">Prospects looked grim for Dustyn Thompson the night before he got the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He had long ago recovered from the opioid addiction that resulted from a trampoline accident when he was 13, but the chronic nerve pain in his back and neck was unrelenting. Money was so tight that he and his wife, Anna, had given up on starting a family. And there was the existential angst. His paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle made Thompson fear that he would never lead the meaningful life he had intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI really doubted if I would be able to make the difference I wanted to make,\u201d he says, adding that he worked as a massage therapist but felt a political calling. He yearned to help draft legislation that benefitted those afflicted with addictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy wife and I even stayed up, literally the night before I got the call, talking about the future and talking through my doubts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That call came from Wilmington University, informing Thompson that he would be the first recipient of the Mark S. Quinn Memorial Scholarship, which was seeded with a $60,000 contribution from Quinn\u2019s estate last spring. The beloved maintenance manager passed away suddenly on March 5, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Receiving some funds from the scholarship was an affirmation for Thompson that he was on the right path. \u201cNow I\u2019m able to save and prepare for a growing family and worry less about the debt at the end of my schooling sending me into default,\u201d he says. \u201cI received new confidence that only comes when someone completely objective reviews your goals and what you\u2019re doing and tells you, \u2018I believe in what you\u2019re doing, and I want to help.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That someone, albeit posthumously, was Mark Quinn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMark clearly had a hand in seeing that it went to Dustyn,\u201d says his sister-in-law, Donna Quinn, executive director in the Office of the President. \u201cThe more we learned about Dustyn, the more we knew it would have meant a great deal to Mark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What Thompson could not have known was that Mark, his benefactor, also struggled financially at one time, and because of that, would have wanted to support a person who overcame obstacles to create positive change in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the way Mark was,\u201d says his brother, Bill Quinn, senior director of Facilities and Maintenance Services. \u201cHe was incredibly humble. He had sheer pride in doing everything to perfection, and his generosity never stopped. He would have been so proud of Dustyn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark\u2019s legacy is his craftsmanship, and his creations are ubiquitous throughout the WilmU landscape. (His initials are written in permanent marker on the back of everything he built.) The Quinns think of him every day, as do their sons, Eric and Josh. Eric has Mark\u2019s woodworking talents; Josh his sense of humor. Both developed expertise in the art of the practical joke, learning from their Uncle Mark how best to outwit the other.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image1930_ed018f-38 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image1930_ed018f-38 size-full wp-image-1931\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/14_alumni_buildingalegacyDustynT_body-300x199-1.jpg\" alt=\"three people smiling\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-1931\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/14_alumni_buildingalegacyDustynT_body-300x199-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/14_alumni_buildingalegacyDustynT_body-300x199-1-250x166.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption><em>Dustyn Thompson with the Quinns<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As for Thompson, he has embraced his studies and is working toward a bachelor\u2019s in Government and Public Policy with a focus on Social Policy. He\u2019s still working as a massage therapist, but he\u2019s also putting in 25 hours a week toward volunteer political work \u2014 and maintaining a 4.0 GPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe best way I can honor Mark is to stay the course and commit entirely to what my intentions have been,\u201d Thompson says. \u201cTo help do all I can to make this world a better place by pushing policies that will help ensure that others can afford their schooling, combat the opioid epidemic by providing meaningful and affordable treatment options to help prevent prescription opioid addiction in the first place, and ensuring that our criminal justice system is rehabilitating people and setting them up to reenter society successfully, not locking them up based on economic or racial factors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Mark, whose generosity is reflected in the scholarship, Thompson wants to devote his life to service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMark cared so much about people and the University,\u201d Donna says. \u201cAnd even though he didn\u2019t have direct contact with students, he took great pride in everything he did. In one capacity or another, he wanted his work to benefit students and fellow employees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thompson can\u2019t articulate fully his gratitude, but in a letter to the Quinns, he wrote: \u201cI will do all I can to pay this forward\u2026I do not have any way to thank you, aside from the promise that I will do what I can to live up to this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>-Maria Hess<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donna and Bill Quinn hold a photo showing Mark Quinn (far right) at his nephew\u2019s 2012 wedding in Washington D.C. Prospects looked grim for Dustyn&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[638,322],"class_list":["post-1930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2019","tag-scholarships"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":638,"label":"Magazine Spring 2019"},{"value":322,"label":"Scholarships"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/14_alumni_buildingalegacyQuinn_body-592x480.jpg",592,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Marchione","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/rachel\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":638,"name":"Magazine Spring 2019","slug":"magazine-spring-2019","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1195,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":322,"name":"Scholarships","slug":"scholarships","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":879,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1930"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17524,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930\/revisions\/17524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}