Jewel 1960-2011

The Rev. Julia Lynn "Jewel" Quinton, 51, of Lawton, Oklahoma, died suddenly Wednesday, September 21, 2011, while visiting friends in Knoxville TN. (see below for full obituary)

I first met Jewel during a Maryville College Interim class in the winter of 1981/82 (I think). I don't remember what the class was, but we met in that first room off the patio entrance to the left in the classic Frank Lloyd-Wright - inspired Fine Arts Center (shame on MC for tearing down those two beautiful and unique buildings, though I admit that the flat roof was a big problem). I had been recording little song ideas/demos using a couple of cassette decks, but I didn't really write lyrics. During the course of the interim class Jewels mentioned that she had written some lyrics about a friend's crazed bunny. I showed up at class the next day with a cassette player and a little demo of a song idea to play for her. After a quick listen she decided that she liked the concept but that she needed more space in the song for her lyrics (you'll understand what that means when you hear it). I went back home and spend a few days tweaking the structure and arrangement to accommodate her requests, and presented her with a new demo that next week.

I think by this point the band was already together working on material for an upcoming coffee house (generally popular covers of the era - Super Freak, Jessie's Girl, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, etc.). With the exception of one member, all of us were MC students: Julie Humpert (guitar), Dave Denshaw (drums), Kevin Crothers (bass, vocal), Lisa Yacks* (sax, flute), Mark Beyer** (cowbell, vocal), Danny Cartilidge (guitar, vocal) [Danny wasn't an MC student, but he was the son of a faculty member - shout out to Dr Cartlidge!]. Mark drifted out of the band after this performance.

The MC coffee houses moved around campus a bit. The first one I played (with a band doing Fleetwood Mac covers) was in the dining hall, while a later one was in the old Alumni Gym/barn. The two represented here today took place in the spacious (and reflectively glass and brick-enclosed) confines of the Lloyd dorm first floor lobby.

We led off with our original, Suicide Bunny, with guest vocalist Julie Quinton:

Johnny Radical and the Stereo Anarchist Regime - Suicide Bunny

Other (bad cover) songs were played, but we'll gloss over that and skip to the next coffee house, where we again invited a guest to perform with us, in this case raconteur and the evening's compere Tom Hudson, who treated us to a stylish re-imagining of Stairway To Heaven:

Johnny Radical and the Stereo Anarchist Regime - Stairway To Heaven

Unfortunately the cassette recordings didn't age very well, and what is heard here is about the best that I could coax out of them when I found them in a box about a decade ago.

I'm not sure if this is how Julie would want to be remembered at this late date (we all surely have our "interesting" college stories) but it is what it is, and I'm proud to have been a part of it.

If this was her first performance (and her nervousness makes me think that it might have been) then I'm doubly proud to have helped kick-start her performing career.

*does not appear on Suicide Bunny

**does not appear on Stairway To Heaven

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Funeral services will be conducted 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 28, 2011, in the chapel of Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home in Union City TN. Burial will follow in Terrace Hill Cemetery in Troy TN.
The family will receive friends at Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.
Jewel was born March 31, 1960, in Takoma Park, Maryland, daughter of Dolores (Walsh) Quinton of South Fulton and the late Eugene Brown "Jack" Quinton. Rev. Quinton was a graduate of Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. She was a recording artist who published her own CD "One True God" and was often called upon to share her gift of music for worship at countless gatherings, churches, and conferences.
Jewel served under and was prayerfully supported by The Missionary Church International. Although her ministry and life was well traveled and far reaching for the past several years, she has lived and served in Oklahoma. In her early years among the Native American families, she was taken as a daughter by the late John and Marlene Haumpy. This is considered an honor among Native Americans. In the same manor, Jewel developed many friendships which led her to take Jason Stick as a brother. Sue Oyebi took her as a daughter. She was well known throughout the area for service and music. She was a blessing to all she met and will be remembered for her servant's heart.
In addition to her mother, she is survived by two sisters, Laura Quinton of Orlando, Florida and Lisa Morgan and her husband Joseph of Dresden three brothers, the Rev. John Quinton and his wife Gail of Dresden, Kenneth Quinton and his wife Lana of Sturgis, Kentucky and Bill Quinton and his wife Heather of Union City; and several nieces and nephews Nicholas Quinton, Brock Quinton, Katie Quinton, Sarah Quinton, Luke Quinton, Noah Quinton, Magan Wills, Alayna Owens, Joe Werner, Dillon Quinton, Levi Owens and Myra Morgan.
Her many children like Jewel herself belong to others. She loved them nurtured them and influenced them in a Godly way that will be known for generations. Matthew 19:14
In lieu of flowers or in memory a donation may be made to The Mission Church International in Jewel’s name for her neediest children.