Mr.
Sandman Jones Beach may not be the center of the universe, but
it was the heart of Virginia and Ricardo Quinn's all-too-brief
life together. They met there on a steamy, summer-in-the-city
day in 1988 when he put his blanket on the sand near hers. Both
were recently divorced and watching their little boys, who took
to each other as quickly as did their parents. "Ric was playing
with his son and I noticed him," Mrs. Quinn said. "I was checking
him out." They married just over a year later and kept coming
back to Jones Beach. Their favorite spot was Field Six, where
Mr. Quinn, 40, made life-size sand sculptures that drew crowds.
"He used to make nudes," Mrs. Quinn said, "but they were very,
very tasteful." After serving in the Coast Guard as a young man,
he held a few different jobs before finding his real calling as
a paramedic with the Fire Department's Battalion 57 in Brooklyn.
His partner, Joe Sanders, said he had a gentle way with people.
Paramedic Quinn was promoted to lieutenant after Sept. 11. In
late January, Mrs. Quinn left their home in Bayside, Queens, and
boarded a Coast Guard cutter that took her three miles off Jones
Beach. There, following Lieutenant Quinn's wishes, she spread
his ashes on the waters he loved. Then the cutter returned to
port. "It was a long, quiet ride back," Paramedic Sanders said.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on February 12, 2002.
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