Zylpha McAdams Quinn

Zylpha "Zip" McAdams Quinn who passed away Wednesday, July 13, 2011, at 108 years and seven months, was a spirited, fun "grande dame" known to generations of Baton Rougeans. She died at her residence in historic Spanish Town near the home where she was born. She is believed to have been the oldest person in East Baton Rouge Parish, born Dec. 11, 1902, and the matriarch of two large Baton Rouge families that include two children: Janet Quinn Rhorer (her late husband, Edward Hawley Rhorer), and Louis Stribling Quinn and wife Jane Ellison Quinn, both of Baton Rouge; 13 grandchildren, Kathleen Rhorer Wascom and husband Michael, Jan Rhorer Breen and husband Samson, Edward Hawley "Skip" Rhorer Jr. and wife Laura Favrot Rhorer, Davis Rhorer and wife Julie Bordelon Rhorer, Paul Rhorer and wife Christine Patrick Rhorer, Megan Rhorer Cordova and husband Jorge, Dr. James Rhorer, Martha "Marti" Quinn Thomas and husband Mark, Louis Quinn Jr. and wife DeLisa Dyer Quinn, Dr. Michael Quinn (his late wife, Laura Juneau Quinn), Jane Ellison "Ellie" Quinn Heinichen and husband Michael, Mary Ellington "Molly" Quinn, and Susan Quinn Lemieux and husband Dr. John Lemieux; 28 great-grandchildren and five great- great-grandchildren. To her family, she was known as "Mommie." Zip was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Davis Stribling Quinn, who was employed by Standard Oil (Exxon) for 35 years in Baton Rouge and in the United Kingdom. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Judson Louie McAdams and Sophie Hernandez McAdams; and great-granddaughter, Maddy McAdams Quinn. Descended from Los Isleños, the Hernandez family came to Louisiana from the Spanish Canary Islands in 1778. Zip also was the great-great-great-granddaughter of the first Latille in Louisiana, Alexander Antoine de Latille. Zip attended St. Joseph's Academy, Baton Rouge, and later boarding school at St. Vincent's Academy, Omaha, Neb. She then attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now ULL, until her marriage in 1922. She was very proud that both her children as well as all 13 of her grandchildren graduated from LSU. Zip grew up on Hooper Road with an extended family of five brothers and aunts and uncles, having lost her mother when she was 2 years old. Her father was a businessman and cattleman and became a strong supporter of Southern University when it located in north Baton Rouge. Zip and her father often attended graduation ceremonies at Southern. After her husband's death in 1955, Zip worked as a housemother at Annie Boyd Hall and other dormitories at LSU. She enjoyed working with the girls and had a positive influence on their college careers. She was the oldest recipient of Louisiana state retirement. Zip McAdams Quinn was born in Baton Rouge when it had fewer than 12,000 people, and died in a city of more than 400,000. She knew the horse and buggy, life without electricity, the coming of the automobile and airplane, lived through two world wars, sailed on the Queen Elizabeth and loved to dance every dance. The family wishes to express their gratitude to her caregiver, Lisa Leckie, for her love, compassion and devotion to Mommie; Dr. Susan Nelson, medical director of the PACE program; and Hospice of Baton Rouge. We will dearly miss her, but her joy lives through us each day. Visitors are welcome at St. Joseph Cathedral on Friday, July 15, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian burial. Interment in Magnolia Cemetery. Memorial donations can be made to St. Joseph's Academy, Catholic High School, St. Joseph Cathedral, Our Lady of the Lake Foundation or First Presbyterian Church.