Evelyn Quint

Evelyn Quint, age 89 of Wayne, passed away peacefully on Friday, October 16, 2020.

Evelyn was born at home in Wallington, the fifth of Constantine and Mary (Gazda) Dombrowski’s eight children. She grew up in Passaic and was raised primarily by her mother, as her father passed away suddenly after a scaffolding accident when she was just six years old. Life was not easy during that time and, at a very early age, Evelyn had to quickly learn the virtue of chipping in to help her family.  Thus, she left high school before graduating in order to take a job and earn an income. She learned to sew and took a job at Barbizon as a seamstress to do her part to help provide for her struggling family. Later in life, she would return to school to earn her certificate so that she could pursue a career as a nurse’s aide.

Evelyn was the beloved wife of H. Albert Quint. A nod to their shared appreciation of the simple things in life, their first date included hot dogs at Johnny and Hanges, followed by some friendly competition at the local bowling alley. They soon fell in love and married on Saturday, November 8, 1952 at St. Ann’s church in Fairlawn. This was followed by a beautiful reception at the Crystal Room in Passaic and a romantic road trip to Florida for their honeymoon.

Evelyn and Albert’s first home as husband and wife was on the third floor of a cold water flat on Sixth Street in Paterson. On cold winter nights, they would regularly engage in their playful dispute of who should get in bed first to warm the icy blankets. Well, the bed must have been warm enough because, while living there, they welcomed the births of three of their four children, Doris, Evelyn, and Albert. In 1959, their young family was proud to purchase their brand-new house in Wayne, built on the former property of the old Sheffield Farm. Prior to the completion of construction, Evelyn’s children fondly remember the excitement of their weekend trips to the house to inspect its progress and lay claims to the bedrooms they dreamed of making memories in. Several years after moving in, they welcomed Michael, their fourth child and little brother.

Evelyn wholeheartedly embraced her role as homemaker and mother, right from the very start. Those years of unconditional love and dedicated care would turn out to be valuable training for the full-time work she would later pursue once her children matured. She took a position as a nurse’s aide at the former Wayne Haven Nursing Home on Black Oak Ridge Road in Wayne. During the span of 28 years of work at Wayne Haven, Evelyn was like an angel to the elderly residents she cared for, regularly going above and beyond the duties of her job description. It was not unusual for her to bring her patients fresh coffee from home, just the way they liked it, or to take their clothing and bedding home to personally wash in her own machine. She would do whatever it took to bring a little sunshine and happiness into their lives – even doing personal shopping for them in her spare time. Evelyn’s grandchildren, whom she adored, will always have fond memories of how she would bring them to work to spread some cheer into those old people’s hearts. And Evelyn put the capital “D” in the word dependable! She never turned down a day of overtime, often to the dismay of her devoted husband. When Wayne Haven closed its doors, Evelyn continued her calling of service to others, performing private duty care, and continued to do so until fully retiring at the age of 76.

As a young lady, one of Evelyn’s favorite pastimes was strapping on her roller skates, complete with wooden wheels, and flying around the Wallington Roller Rink, impressing onlookers with her fancy footwork. As a mother and homemaker, she put those skates on the shelf to put her kitchen utensils and gardening tools to use instead.  Her greatest passions were cooking and baking, most famous for her babka, stuffed cabbage and melt-in-your-mouth apple pie.  Her pierogis were her greatest masterpiece of all, highly coveted and the cause of many a spat amongst her children and grandchildren as to who would lay claim to the next batch.  She also found gardening to be therapeutic, not to mention very rewarding, and took great pride in caring for her property along with her husband. Their yard was always adorned with the most beautiful flowers, and the vegetables that they planted came in real handy when preparing delicious meals for the family.

Eventually, Evelyn’s children began to bless her with grandchildren, and some of those grandchildren in turn blessed her with great-grandchildren. From that time forward, hobbies and pastimes took a back seat to the unconditional and adoring love she lavished upon them. Her life’s calling became creating childhood dreams for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They fondly remember being able to do pretty-much anything they wanted at Grandma’s house. Play in the mud and splash in the sprinkler for hours on end?  No problem! She was a young grandma too, so getting right in there to share in activities like jumping rope, hopscotch and tossing a ball was never an issue. Always demonstrating the patience of a saint when it came to her grandkids, games of Rummy 500 usually turned into games of Rummy 3500.  There was never such a thing as too many treats at grandma’s house either, “If you want another ice cream, feel free to grab one out of the freezer whenever you wish!”

Evelyn will always be remembered for her innumerable virtues. She was a selfless caregiver with a motivation that came from a very pure and loving place in her heart. Make no mistake, though small in stature, she was full of spunk and a force to be reckoned with. Channeling a strong will for the good of others, she leaves behind a legacy of demonstrating to her children and grandchildren, the virtues of hard work and selflessness.  Evelyn was the epitome of the adage “It is better to give than to receive.”    

Evelyn was the beloved wife of H. Albert Quint, blessed in marriage for 46 years until his passing in 1998. She was the very loving mother of Doris Daddio and husband William of Seaside Heights, Evelyn Celentano of Wayne, the late Al Quint (2017), and Michael Quint of Wayne; most adored grandmother of: Tony and partner Vito, Nicole and husband Andrew, Thomas, Michelle, and Cristina; cherished great-grandmother of: Cole, TJ, Niko, and Andrew; dear sister of: Joseph Dombrowski and wife Audrey of Elmwood Park, and Dolores Kunzig of Wayne and her late husband George; mother-in-law of Deborah Quint of Wayne; and aunt to numerous nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by her sister Wanda Zaleski and her three brothers: Chet, Walter, and Eddie Dombrowski.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Evelyn’s name are asked to consider St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Processing, 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105-9959 (www.stjude.org).