'Master at hospitality' remembered as friend to all after unexpected death

When Michael Quinn went to hospital in Burlington, Ont., it was supposed to be for an outpatient procedure.

"It went wrong," says Sandra, his wife of four decades.

A Saultite known for towering kindness and charm in an industry known for kindness and charm, Michael Quinn died Monday at age 70.

"I miss him with all my heart," Sandra tells SooToday.

So do many, many other people who crossed paths with Quinn in the local restaurant and hospitality sectors.

"He's one of the greatest people I've ever met," recalls Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington.

Warmington cut his journalistic teeth from 1987 to 1991 under Doug Millroy at the Sault Star.

He got to know Quinn during the two decades Quinn served at Algoma's Water Tower Inn and Suites.

The Water Tower has always been a convenient lunch stop for hungry Sault Star staffers.

Superstars or schlimazels, Quinn was everybody's friend

"Michael was one of the first people I met in the Sault," Warmington says. "He knew everybody and everything. Everybody was important and you wanted to be around him."

"He was a master at hospitality. His idea of hospitality was to get to know the customers. I learned a lot from that."

Warmington describes Quinn's interest in people as genuine, never contrived. He would talk to you and didn't care whether you were a superstar or a schlimazel.

Journalism, practised with care and integrity, is sometimes a lonely craft.

Sure, Quinn was your friend when everybody wanted to be your friend.

But he was also your friend on those days when you weren't really hungry because you'd been eating your own words all day and nobody wanted to be around you. 

"You could not find a better friend, when you were down," Warmington remembers.

Started as bellboy

Michael Alexander Quinn was born and raised in the Sault.

He left town at age 16 to live with his father in Hamilton, and quickly secured employment as a bellboy at the Royal Connaught Hotel.

He worked at other Hamilton eateries too, learning the ropes slinging everything from doughnuts to pizzas to fried chicken.

Then, in the early 70s, Quinn returned to his hometown and bought McClenaghan's Tavern at Queen and March from Frank Shunock.

The place had a rock club on one side and a second space frequented by older patrons, offering a soloist, usually a pianist.

How they met

It was at McClenaghan's where Sandra met Michael.

"Boy, they rocked," Sandra says. "A lot of marriages began there and a lot ended there."

In those days, Sandra was Sandra Denardo.

She was taken to the tavern by a date from out of town who wanted to catch up with his old friend Quinn who'd just started a tavern.

When Sandra met Michael, her date faded quickly from the picture.

"Michael called me the next night for a date and that was it," she says.

Introduced to mom on second date

Their relationship progressed faster than green grass through a goose.

"You know it's going well when he takes you home to meet his mother on the second date," Sandra chuckles.

From McLenaghan's, Michael started Quinny's on Queen Street East, where there's now just a laneway beside the Feifel Broadbent Gualazzi law firm.

Sandra believes Quinny's was Sault Ste. Marie's first real Jewish delicatessen.

And then, J.J. Hilsinger took notice of the young entrepreneur and asked him to help with his KFC franchises.

By this time, the newly wedded Mr. and Mrs. Quinn were ready for a change with fewer hours.

So Michael sold Quinny's to local pizza queen Aurora Butkovich (the original Mrs. B) who changed the name to Snapper's Deli.

J.J. and his chickens

Michael started frying up chickens in a city that associated KFC as closely to the name Jimmy John as it did to Col. Harland Sanders.

From there, J.J. persuaded Quinn to move across the street to help out at his flagship enterprise - Algoma's Water Tower Inn.

It was there that Quinn's career blossomed, his charisma winning many of the biggest red-carpet events and their associated glitteracy.

He reigned at the Water Tower for 20 years.

Quinn was a people-pleaser but he was not a pushover.

Sometimes, he stood up to J.J. when J.J. got a little too Jimmy John. 

"The reason Michael lasted is that Michael would go toe to toe with him. I think J.J. liked that," Warmington remembers.

Challenging a powerful mayor

Most notably, Quinn stood up to then-Mayor Joe Fratesi over the city's controversial English-only resolution.

Says Warmington: "I saw the pressure he was under. He was about what was right. He had a sense of honour and fairness and loyalty."

"Michael treated everybody equal. He didn't think it was our place to make division in our community. He liked Joe, he tried to explain to him that we're a little town and we didn't need this over our head. It wasn't good for business. That's Michael's bottom line."

Michael Quinn believed in people and gave a lot of them jobs and a chance at bettering their lives.

He mentored one housekeeper who ended up being promoted to front desk.

He was a founding member of the Sault Ste. Marie Restaurant Association and was awarded Sault Ste. Marie's Tourism Award of Excellence in 2007.

As he approached retirement, Quinn took over sales at what was then the Ramada (now Quattro) on Great Northern Road.

He served on the advisory council of Sault College's hospitality management program and as Canadian Forces reserve liaison co-coordinator.

After retirement, Quinn continued volunteering in the tourism sector, helping out as an ambassador on the Agawa Canyon Tour Train.

In August 2015, the Quinns moved to Burlington to be closer to their two daughters, Kristie Kopplin and Karrie Scherba. 

Karrie continues the family tradition of serving in the hospitality sector, managing the Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites in London, Ont.

"It took me a year to convince Michael to leave the Sault," Sandra says.

Daughter Karrie Scherba advises that a celebration of Michael’s life is planned for May of 2018 in Sault Ste Marie, with more information to follow. 

Donations to ARCH (www.archhospice.ca) in Michael's name are appreciated.