Patricia Eckert Cates Quinn

Pat Quinn of Springmoor Retirement Community died in Raleigh on March 9, 2014. Her deceased husband was John Allen Cates of Raleigh. She later married Dr. Galen W. Quinn of Durham, retired member of the medical staff of Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Quinn predeceased Mrs. Quinn in 2008. Surviving are her daughter, Catherine Westen Cates of Raleigh and a son, Christopher Eckert Cates, daughter-in-law Laura Ann Cates, and three grandchildren, Charlotte Ann Cates, Emily Elizabeth Cates and Reeves Ashton Cates, all of Pinehurst, NC. Her beloved Down Syndrome son, Tommy Myers, predeceased her. Mrs. Quinn was born in Macon, Georgia, daughter of Harold E. Eckert and Gertrude Westen Eckert. She moved with her parents to Raleigh in 1942 and has been a member of Hayes Barton United Methodist Church since that time. She graduated from Needham Broughton High School in the class of 1945. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Randolph Macon College of Lynchburg, VA, where she was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority. She later received her Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education from UNC Chapel Hill. Mrs. Quinn taught in Raleigh with the Wake County Public Schools for a total of twenty-five years. She was a member of Hayes Barton United Methodist Church beginning in 1942. She served her church on the Alter Guild, the Acolytes Committee, taught Bible School and was a member of the Administrative Board. She helped in establishing two of the Group Homes in Raleigh for the mentally challenged and was an avid supporter of the Special Olympics. Mrs. Quinn served two terms as secretary during some of her years on the Board of Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities. She held leaderships roles in the Raleigh Chapter of Randolph Macon Womans College Alumnae and was later on the Alumnae Council of RMWC in Lynchburg. She was a member of the Junior League of Raleigh for twenty five years and a past member of the Carolina Country Club, the Capital City Club and the Raleigh Country Club where her father had been a charter member. Mrs. Quinn left her home of thirty six years on Drummond Drive, Raleigh and moved to Springmoor in 2003 where she was an active participant in that community. She was a volunteer on the staff of the Springmoor library, a member of the Decorating and Refurbishing Committee, the Meal Monitors and the Ambassadors Club. There will be a private viewing at Bryan Lee Funeral Home followed by a private burial at Oakwood Cemetery on Friday, March 14. Then at 2:00 PM the same day, there will be a public memorial service conducted by Springmoor Chaplain, Rev. Phyllis Mayo in the Springmoor Auditorium. The family will greet guests there following the service and requests that in lieu of flowers memorial gifts be made to the Greensboro Childrens Home Society of NC, Inc. of Greensboro, NC or to the Springmoor Endowment Fund c/o 1500 Sawmill Road, Raleigh, 27615. The family would like to thank the staff of Springmoor, Interim Home Health Care, and Hospice of Wake County for the care they provided. They would also like to give a special thanks to Maria Abbink, Mrs. Quinns longtime caregiver, for her incredibly kind, sensitive and efficient care.