QUINN, JR., CHARLES J.

QUINN, JR., CHARLES J. (1948-2023) Charles J. Quinn, Jr., 75, passed away on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Charles (who also went by CJ or Charlie) was born to Charles J. Quinn and Marie Fleischmann Quinn in Philadelphia, PA, on June 20, 1948. He grew up in the East Oaklane neighborhood there. He graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1966 and earned a B.A. cum laude in English from Lasalle University in 1970. In 1972, Charles received an M.A. in English from Michigan State University. He had worked there as a teaching assistant for the English Language Center, whose director happened to be Japanese. Through him, Charles was invited to teach English conversation in Shikoku, Japan upon graduation. Though the job fell through after he arrived due to a lack of funding, he managed to make ends meet by picking mandarin oranges at a local orchard. He also used the time to embark on learning the Japanese language. Subsequently, he found employment at an English school run by the Sony Corporation in Fukuoka, Kyushu, and taught there several years while his study of Japanese continued. These were the earliest of Charles's experiences living in Japan and the beginning of his life's work as a student and then a scholar of Japanese language and culture. Charles completed an M.A. in 1981 and a Ph.D. in 1987 in Japanese Literature and Linguistics at The University of Michigan. In 1987 he joined the faculty of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. In 1988 he married Shelley Fenno (Quinn), who was on the Japanese literature faculty there. They worked together at OSU for 34 years. He was a historical linguist who researched the grammar and rhetoric of early Japanese texts (8th-12th c.). He also specialized in Japanese language pedagogy and was active as a teacher of Japanese language and a trainer of future teachers. Along with publishing his research in journal articles and co-editing a book, Situated Meaning: Inside and Outside in Japanese Self, Society and Language (Princeton UP 1994), Charles devoted twenty years to designing and serving as the lead developer of Classical Japanese Portal (CJP), an interactive multimedia website intended as a learning tool for students of Japanese classical language. He was very dedicated to the education of his students. In 1990 he received the OSU Alumni University Distinguished Teaching Award and was nominated again in 2011. Students speak of his high level of expertise and his ability to challenge them to think critically, as well as his gentle, solid guidance, his detailed feedback, and the encouragement he gave them. Charles loved the southern New Jersey shore. From junior high school, he spent his summers in Sea Isle City and was a lifeguard for the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol throughout college and into graduate school. Along with swimming, he enjoyed rowing and competed for three years on the Lasalle University men's rowing team. He was a serious amateur musician who liked to play old-time music and bluegrass on the guitar and clawhammer-style tunes on the banjo. Like his father, he loved baseball, especially the Philadelphia Phillies. His family members include his wife; his maternal aunt, Jane Fleischmann Connelly; three nieces, Shanna M. O'Hagan, Alison W. Maxwell, and Roslyn T. Maxwell; a nephew, David B. Maxwell; a sister-in-law, Gwen L. Fenno; two brothers-in-law, Michael O'Hagan and John J. Maxwell; a grandniece, Charlotte Clay; and many cousins. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. He is predeceased by his parents, his sister, Patricia Quinn O'Hagan, his mother-in-law, Marilyn W. Fenno, and his sister-in-law, Lynn F. Maxwell. A Celebration of Charles's Life will be held at 11:00 AM on September 23 at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Ocean View, New Jersey. If desired, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Atsushi Onoe Memorial Fund (Fund Number 665555), Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University (https://www.giveto.osu.edu/makeagift/details/665555), or to the National Audubon Society (https://www.audubon.org/). Condolences may be sent to https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/columbus-oh/charles-quinn-11372736