Canisius High School Today
8
Room dedications honor
Quinn and Miller families
arry Quinn, Jr. did not attend Canisius High
School, but having graduated from St. Ignatius
High School in Chicago, he knew the value of a
Jesuit education.
So later in life, when he moved his family to Buffalo to
head the local office of a national engineering firm that was
building the Kensington Expressway, Harry chose to send his
sons to Canisius.
Larry Quinn ’70 and Peter Quinn ’71 went on to much
success following their Canisius days. Larry Quinn’s career
took himfromdirector of economic development for the City
of Buffalo to team president and then managing partner
Advancement News
L-R: Barbara Quinn Mullen, Peter Quinn ’71, aunt Ethel Casey Grobe,
Larry Quinn ’70, and cousins Georgia Miller Goldberg and Cynthia
Miller.
Photo Credit: Durand McCloud
and minority owner of the NHL Buffalo Sabres. Peter Quinn
became a successful architect and a well-known artist of
paintings, sketches and book illustrations.
“My father chose Canisius for us, but looking
back, it was one of the most influential places
in our lives,”
says Larry.
“That’s why I chose to
give back to the school and honor my parents
and family in the process.”
Larry Quinn’s support for Canisius in the Quinn family
name was recognized at a dedication ceremony this past
August presided over by school president Fr. Joseph
Costantino, S.J., and attended by family members including
Larry, Peter, their sister, Barbara Mullen, as well as cousins
and an aunt from the Miller family in Chicago. Larry noted
many of the cousins had not seen one another for decades
and the dedication ceremony was a chance to reconnect
and celebrate the legacy of the Quinn and Miller families.
Principal Tim Fitzgerald, past interim president Joe
Koessler ’81 and other Canisius staff and faculty members
were also in attendance.
The Jane and Victor Miller Music Room was named for
Larry Quinn’s uncle and aunt who wrote, produced
and directed countless musical variety shows while raising
five children in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago.
The children in attendance noted it was a tremendous
honor for two people who were happiest when they were
performing music.
A former biology lab, renovated as a new art room, was
named for Loanne Casey Quinn, mother of Larry, Peter,
Barbara and Michael. “My mother was so proud to have
Larry and Peter attend Canisius High School,” said Barbara
Mullen at the room dedication. “This honor would mean
so much to her and I know she is dancing with joy
somewhere because of it.”
The dedication ceremony concluded with the naming of
the senior lounge for Harry Quinn, Jr., the patriarch of the
Quinn family. Harry embodied the Jesuit spirit of a man for
others throughout his life and in retirement was a long
time volunteer of Compeer, the Little Portion Friary and the
St. Vincent de Paul Society in Buffalo. “My father worked
hard, but he knew how to relax,” said Peter. “He would love
this lounge and his spirit is certainly here.”
]
