PORT ANGELES — Quinn Redlin Kintner believed good ideas hold power.
An accessibility advocate, Quinn was a person of “infinite possibility,” said her mother, Kelsey Redlin.
And Quinn’s possibilities were not without promise.
She didn’t live to see the accessibility improvements to Shane Park or the ground breaking of Quinn Redlin Kintner Memorial Park, formerly Georgianna Park.
But she witnessed the promise of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible parks — in City Hall and in the frequent emails of Corey Delikat, then the city parks/street superintendent.
No matter — because Quinn never doubted those promises would be delivered, Redlin said.
“She was really confident. She really thought her ideas were going to happen. I don’t think she would be surprised,” Redlin said, laughing. “Sometimes, I’m really surprised but I don’t think she would have been.”
Seven years after her death, Quinn’s ideas still carry on.
As part of her senior culminating project at Port Angeles High School, Quinn visited every Port Angeles city park, taking note of barriers to accessibility, as well as those park features she deemed well-done.
“I am careful to comment and make suggestions about public spaces that don’t work and thank people for spaces that do,” Quinn wrote.
Between 2008 and 2010, Quinn and Delikat emailed back and forth about Quinn’s city park findings. She documented some of their correspondence in her senior report in May 2008.
(Quinn’s parents, Redlin and Bill Kintner, still check in with Delikat through Quinn’s email, an address Delikat said he enjoys popping up in his inbox).
In her absence, Quinn still serves as a “consultant” to the city, Delikat said.
“There’s nothing I don’t look at now when we’re doing any sort of project when ADA is not the first thought on my mind.”
“I often go back and look at this,” he said, gesturing to Quinn’s report. “And I look at her comments.”
That’s why Delikat, parks and recreation director, and Bruce Skinner of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation nominated Quinn for the Governor’s Trophy, the state’s highest honor given to a resident with a disability.
“It was a no-brainer for me,” Skinner said of the nomination.
“She was the most inspirational person I have ever met,” he continued. “She was all about seizing the moment. If I want to do something, I’m going to do it.”
Quinn will be recognized for the nomination during the Governor’s Employer Awards Programs on Tuesday in Redmond.
The winner of the Governor’s Trophy will be announced during the program.
The Governor’s Trophy is a lifetime achievement award given only once to an individual. This award honors someone who has developed or influenced programs or services resulting in tangible, positive outcomes that dramatically enhance the empowerment of individuals with disabilities.
For more information, see http://tinyurl.com/PDN-governorstrophy.
If she wins, Quinn would be the first deceased person to receive the Governor’s Trophy, Delikat said.
But family and friends say she already won.
“In many ways, a nomination is a win,” Redlin said. “I was really quite touched. It brought tears to my eyes.”
“And we won for getting to know her and getting to continue her mission,” Delikat said. “She’s worthy of winning but we already won by continuing her legacy.”
What would Quinn say about the nomination?
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Delikat said, noting Quinn always expressed her appreciation in threes.
“She probably would have gotten a kick out of it,” Redlin said, laughing.
Quinn wasn’t one to pine for personal recognition, Skinner said.
“I don’t think it was ever in her wheelhouse,” he said. “But she would be extremely happy that an old city park is being turned into a fabulous park that’s accessible to all.”
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Reporter Sarah Sharp can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at ssharp@peninsuladailynews.com.
Quinn Redlin Kintner gives a thumbs up in her manual wheelchair. (Kelsey Redlin)
