CAVENDISH, Vt. – Christine (Cole) Quinn, 71, of Cavendish, Vt., died in a bicycling accident while on vacation in Kitty Hawk, N.C. on Friday, May 20, 2022.
Chris was born in Springfield, Vt. on July 26, 1950 to Thelma (Curtis) Gamble (deceased 2007) and Charles Cole (deceased in 1951).
Chris grew up in Andover, Vt. with her mother Thelma, step-father Ralph Gamble, and sister Janet (Cole) Rollins (deceased 2018). She attended Springfield High School in Springfield, Vt. After graduating in 1968, she went on to attend Champlain College in Burlington, Vt., graduating in 1970 with an Associates Degree in Business Management. She met her husband of 48 years in 1972. They married in 1974 and together built a house where they lived in Cavendish for the rest of her life. In 1979 she gave birth to their only child Jill, and for the first few years of Jill’s life was a stay at home mom. When Chris returned to the workforce, she put her life-long love of cooking to use and worked in a few different kitchens as a pastry chef, finally opening her own business making cakes and desserts for local restaurants as well as wedding and birthday cakes. Later in life, she attended Norwich University’s adult degree program in Brattleboro, Vt., graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Human Behavior in 1998.
Chris had a vibrant personality and was quick to strike up a conversation with anyone she met. She was always busy whether she was volunteering, spending time outdoors enjoying one of her many passions, including cycling, hiking, kayaking, gardening or skiing, practicing yoga, or spending time with family and friends.
Chris’s love of the outdoors and taking the path less traveled, just to “see where it comes out,” led her to many adventures including hiking the Long Trail, a multi-day kayaking trip along the Saguenay River, and bicycling the length of Vermont from Canada to Massachusetts. She spent her 2015 Mother’s Day going skydiving and took a three month cross country road trip with her husband in 2016, visiting 28 states. In 2018, Chris enrolled in a yoga teacher training and graduated in 2019 with her 200-hour certification.
Always willing to lend a hand and never afraid to get dirty, Chris will be greatly missed by many people.
She is survived by her husband Hollis Quinn Jr. of Cavendish, Vt.; her daughter Jill (Quinn) Sandonato and husband David of Cavendish, Vt.; grandson Michael “Drew” Quinn-Lambert of Cavendish, Vt.; step-grandchildren, Kayla and Noah Sandonato of Claremont, N.H.; sister-in-laws Charlotte (Quinn) Pitts and Carolyn (Quinn) Griggs and husband George, both of Cavendish, Vt.; three great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
A Celebration of Life will be held July 24, 2022 at Harwood Pavillion, Plymouth State Park in Plymouth, Vt. from 1-4 p.m. Donations in Chris’s honor can be made to the Cavendish Elementary School Snow Sports program, the Black River Senior Center in Ludlow, Vt., or your favorite charity.