Dr. Robert Quinlan

April 21, 1944 – June 23, 2024WDMS member April 1, 1985 to February 1, 1989

Robert (“Bob”) Quinlan died peacefully on June 23, 2024, at his home in North Grafton, Massachusetts with his loving wife Diane by his side. He was 80 years old. He will be remembered for his dedication to battling cancer as a surgeon, professor, researcher, and champion to many who sought his care and, ultimately, as a patient himself.

Bob was the youngest of three children of Jeremiah and Madeline Quinlan. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Cambridge Matignon School, College of the Holy Cross, and Cornell University Medical College. He completed his surgical training and formed lasting friendships in the residency program at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. Following his residency, he served as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Medical Corps before accepting a surgical oncology fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. In 1980, he was named Chief of Surgery at Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts (now UMass Memorial Health). He practiced surgery until age 70, at which time he was named the hospital system’s first Chief Patient Experience Officer. Widely recognized for his contributions and compassion in breast cancer care, Bob made a tremendous difference in the lives of thousands of patients and families. Patients admired him for his clinical and surgical excellence, but most notably, deeply appreciated his bedside manner and personal commitment to their care. He was instrumental in establishing the hospital’s Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center, where he served as Director from 1997 until 2014. The Center was renamed in his honor in 2023. He also served as Professor of Surgery at the UMass Medical School. Bob was honored to serve as president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the New England Cancer Society, and the New England Surgical Society. He also served in leadership roles at the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and the Society of Surgical Oncology.

Beyond surgery, he was drawn to experimental biology and served as a trustee for the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research. He authored dozens of articles for peer-reviewed journals and numerous book chapters. He played golf through high school and college before discovering a life-long passion for sailing in his thirties. He cruised coastal waters from the Chesapeake Bay to Labrador, Canada, with a particular fondness for Downeast Maine. In his fifties, Bob developed a love for blue water sailing, beginning with a Bermuda to Newport return followed by several North Atlantic passages. He sailed the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the coast of Scotland and the Faroe Islands, and the coast of Iceland, north of the Arctic Circle among icebergs off the coast of Greenland, and completed a circumnavigation of Ireland. He found happiness and balance aboard any sailboat with friends and family.

Bob was a member of the New Bedford Yacht Club for over 30 years. He was inducted into the Cruising Club of America in recognition of his North Atlantic adventures. Bob grew up skiing in New England and found great pleasure in powder turns. He gave the gift of skiing to his children and instilled in them a deep appreciation for the majestic beauty of the Colorado Rockies. In the final years of his life, he enjoyed spending time with his family and new friends in the beautiful mountains of western Maine.

Bob is survived by his wife, Diane Quinlan; his step-daughter Lauren B. Connors and her husband Jake and his granddaughter Cassidy of Douglas, MA; and his children, from a previous marriage to Judith S. Quinlan, Sarah E. Quinlan of Boston and Mark R. Quinlan and his wife Dara of New York City and grandchildren, Cameron and Haden of New York City. He is also survived by his brother, Paul Quinlan, and his wife, Pauline of Morristown, New Jersey, and his sister, Janice Brown of Framingham, Massachusetts, and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the SEA Education Association, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Bob M. Quinlan, MD Breast Center at UMass Memorial.

A memorial service will be held in the Fall of 2024.

Reprinted with permission from The Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Originally published 7/2/24.