Deceased June 28, 2020
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In Memory
Richard Edgecombe Quaintance Jr. died from a stroke on June 28, 2020, in Boulder, Colo., at age 92.
He was called “Edge” or “Q.” He grew up in Katonah, N.Y., and came to Amherst from Phillips Andover with several classmates, including Paul Marier ’50, our faithful choragus. At Amherst, Edge played lacrosse; was in the Glee Club, choir and news bureau; and belonged to Phi Alpha Psi.
At the suggestion of our chaplain, John Coburn, Edge taught for two years at Robert College in Istanbul. Then he served in the U.S. Army in Germany and earned a Ph.D. in English from Yale in 1962. He had a great career as a professor at Rutgers for 30 years, with a wide range of interests, including his favorite, the 18th-century literature of British landscapes and gardens; he was a fine gardener himself. He retired in 1997 but continued teaching, including at our class reunions, and in his ministry as a lay leader in the Episcopal Church, especially at St. Luke’s, Metuchen, N.J., where he will be buried when the pandemic permits.
He and Charlotte Welch were married in 1951 and later divorced. Their daughter, the Honorable Kathryn Quaintance, lives in Minneapolis. Their son, Ross, sadly, was killed in an auto accident in 1985. Edge married the Rev. Barbara Crafton, an Episcopal priest, pastor, author and retreat leader, in 1989. Her two daughters and their children became a cherished part of his family.
A man of energy, wit and talent, Edge was a loyal “son of our Mother, brave and true.” He and Barbara came to many class reunions. Q had been our class secretary for the past five years.
Kingsley Smith ’50