Gregory F. Quinn

 In Memoriam: Gregory F. Quinn (1946–2017)   Gregory F. Quinn died December 10, 2017 in Fullerton, California following a debilitating illness at the age of 71. Greg was born October 6, 1946 in Inglewood CA and was raised in Westchester and Garden Grove, CA until he moved as an adult to Fullerton, CA where he lived most of the remainder of his life. He was an avid draftsman, product designer and design-for-manufacturability guru throughout his career creating functional parts and objects with apparent ease.  His early days had him hunched over a drafting board pencil in one hand, t-square in the other, but in the burgeoning days of Computer-Aided Design and Engineering he quickly taught himself the tools necessary to be proficient.  He was an expert at AutoCAD as early as version 1.0 and became the go-to guy in his AutoCAD users’ group. He later learned SolidWorks and was just as proficient. He garnered 9 patents over his life for diverse products such as trumpet valves, doll joint mechanisms and irrigation connectors.  He worked for companies from FE Olds (where he was befriended by the great Zig Kanstul with whom he co-authored a patent) to Mattel to Enigma Sciences.  He mostly worked as an independent contractor under the company name of Coast Product Development. In 2006 he was awarded New Product Contest Winner from the Irrigation Association for a nifty little irrigation wire connector.  He was known for his precision in designing anything he was asked to design and for creating the best version for manufacturability. He was also a skier, fisherman, tool collector, car and motorcycle enthusiast and swap meet aficionado. His garage was more immaculate than his home. He enjoyed Jeopardy on a regular basis and loved comedy, seeing Blazing Saddles more times that he could count. He married Alice Bautista in 2007 and enjoyed his retirement years with her extensive family and friends, traveling around California and tinkering in the garage and garden. He is survived by his wife, Alice, his sister, Christine Kurihara, his brothers, Timothy and Michael Quinn, twenty-six nephews and nieces and thirteen grand nieces and grand nephews. He will be greatly missed and always remembered as a wonderful husband, brother and friend. A viewing will be held on Tuesday, December 19th from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM with a service beginning at 2:00 PM.