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FRAMINGHAM- Maureen Quinn Ryan, 27, a registered nurse, formerly of Brighton, died at home on May 12, 2020 after a long illness, with her parents Kevin and Colleen at her side.
She was the loving granddaughter of Edward and Elizabeth Ryan of Cranston, Rhode Island and Thomas and Jean Quinn of Natick Massachusetts. She loved her aunts and uncles, Kathleen (Quinn) and Marc White of Franklin, Massachusetts and Tom Quinn and Amanda Van Veen of Charlestown, Massachusetts, her big cousins, Quinton and Dylan White and her little cousins Van and Nora Quinn.
Maureen worked at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton.
She graduated from the MGH Institute of Health Professions Accelerated Nursing Program in 2017.
She had previously worked as the Assistant to the Chief of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after graduating from Bridgewater State University with a degree in management.
Maureen started volunteering in the Alzheimer’s unit of a nursing home at thirteen years old.
At sixteen years old, she was working as a teaching assistant in a preschool and nights at a department store while still volunteering at a nursing home.
Maureen was an accomplished archer and certified archery instructor, competing in state and national events. She started and coached a successful archery program for people with special needs. She continued to work at a department store through college and also in the Community Service Center at Bridgewater State, where she became Senior Program Assistant, overseeing the service-based residential learning community, coordinating educational, community-oriented and social programs each semester.
She was president of the BSU Buddies Club, planning educational and social events for young adults with special needs in the Bridgewater/Brockton area, working with the Brockton Arc organization. While president, she increased volunteer enrollment 300%, doubled the amount of money raised for the club and secured increased university support.
She was a team leader for Alternative Break Programs, leading service trips during the school year as well as summer breaks with several organizations.
She served the homeless in soup kitchens and shelters and worked with children in inner-city communities in New York, Philadelphia, Springfield and Atlanta. She served at Camp Sunshine in Maine where she worked as a counselor for children with life-threatening illnesses.
She was a clinician at Bridgewater State’s Children’s Physical Developmental Clinic where she used her skills in American Sign Language to great effect with hearing impaired children.
She also tutored and mentored homeless elementary school-age children in the Brockton area for the School on Wheels program. She loved wrapping Christmas presents and delivering household items to formerly homeless families who secured housing, working with My Brother’s Keeper and Father Bill’s organizations of Eastern Massachusetts.
She completed college early, got a job and moved to Cambridge. When asked why she did not want to stay and enjoy her last semester in college, she said: “I just want to start my life!”
While working in the division of infectious diseases, she decided to become a nurse and attended Harvard Extension School to acquire science based credits in order to apply to the MGH Institute of Health Professions.
She left Brigham and Women’s to work night shifts as a unit coordinator on an orthopedic floor at Newton Wellesley Hospital while going to nursing school during the day.
When asked why she did not want to stay in a great job at Brigham, she said: “There’s still so much I want to do!”
While in nursing school, Maureen treasured her clinical immersion term working at Boston Health Care for the Homeless and New England Center and Home for Veterans.
She continued to volunteer at Rosie’s Place in Boston after becoming a nurse.Maureen never wasted a moment of her life.
She lived with Loeys-Dietz syndrome but never let it define her.
She packed a full life into a very short time. She touched many hearts. She helped many people. She smiled. She was a nurse.
Kevin and Colleen are grateful for all the amazing nurses, patient assistants, respiratory, physical and occupational therapists, doctors and staff at Mass General and Spaulding Cambridge that cared for our family and will forever live in our hearts.
In light of COVID-19 protocols, a private service and burial will take place at a later time.
Kevin and Colleen are working to establish an endowed scholarship at MGH Institute of Health Professions Accelerated Nursing Program for student nurses also committed to serving the less fortunate so that Maureen’s passion and spirit will live on.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Maureen’s name may be made to the MGH Institute of Health Professions, through: https://giving.mghihp.edu/donatenow or MGH Institute of Health Professions, 36 First Avenue, Boston, MA 02129.
Boyle Bros. Funeral Home, Framingham, is assisting with arrangements. www.Boylebrothers.com.
McCarthy McKinney Lawler Funeral Home 
Chesmore Funeral Home