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Rev. Harriott Quin, a member of Community UCC and retired UCC minister, died on September 9th, 2025 surrounded by her loved ones. We are including her obituary below.  A memorial service will be held at 2 PM on September 20th, 2025 at Community United Church of Christ, 2650 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80305. A reception will follow the service. All are welcome to celebrate this extraordinary woman’s life. In lieu of flowers her family requested donations to Earthjustice, a non-profit organization. 

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Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and cherished member of the Boulder community, Harriott Quin passed away peacefully at the age of 97 on September 9, 2025 in Broomfield, Colorado surrounded by her loving family. She is survived by her ex-husband, Dr. Louis Quin; her children, Gordon Quin (Jane), Dr. Howard Quin (Grace), and Carol Radcliffe (Richard); her five grandchildren, Caitlin Radcliffe, Julie Slade, Marisa Quin, Ian Quin, and Christina Quin; and two great grandchildren, Sutton and Ryan. She is preceded in death by her parents, her brother Lowry Johnson, her sister Phoebe Ruther ford, and her daughter Kathleen Quin.

Born on August 5, 1928, in Catonsville, Maryland, to Dr. S. Lloyd Johnson and Florence Johnson, Harriott was the youngest daughter of a prominent local physician. As a young woman, she attended Oberlin College in Ohio, and after graduating in 1949, worked in various jobs, including as a librarian.

In 1952, following a brief courtship, she married Dr. Louis Quin of Charleston, South Carolina. After moving several times, they ultimately settled in Durham, North Carolina in 1956, where they raised their three children.

Harriott attended UNC Chapel Hill, where she earned a Master of Social Work degree in 1973. She then worked at a rehabilitation center in Durham. In 1978, she became an ordained minister to the United Church of Christ after graduating from Duke Divinity School.

Following the end of her marriage, she moved to Lompoc, California in 1981, where she served as the director of a shelter for homeless women and children. In 1991, Harriott moved to Boulder, Colorado to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. She continued to support her community, working as the director of a center for homeless and low income seniors in Denver until her retirement in 2000.

During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Harriott became deeply involved in social justice. Her cars, affectionately known as “Causemobiles,” were adorned with bumper stickers supporting presidential candidates and environmental issues. She joined the protests against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C., was an active participant in the fight for civil rights and desegregation, joined the Women’s Liberation Movement (she was one of the original “bra burners”), and worked tirelessly for the reform of the North Carolina justice system, particularly the abolition of the death penalty. She protested the war in Iraq, participating in demonstrations in downtown Boulder. She advocated for a full nuclear weapons moratorium, writing letters to senators and congressmen.

Well into her 80’s, she volunteered with Restorative Justice for juveniles and at Pioneer Bilingual Elementary School in Lafayette where she taught art to kindergarteners. More recently, Harriott participated in the Denver Women’s March in January 2017, where her homemade signs were carried by friends. She was a lifelong Democrat, volunteering for elections until her 90’s, and a devoted member of Community United Church of Christ, where she occasionally led sermons and Bible study classes.

Harriott often remarked that she “was born too soon” and longed to have been young in the 1960s. She loved the music of that era, particularly Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and fully embraced the cultural change and revolution, especially during the summer of 1969. Her children fondly recall her dancing around the living room to music in her best plaid bell bottom pants.

A prolific writer and thinker, Harriott kept years of personal journals and wrote extensively on the intersection of theology and science. She authored two books chronicling her experiences as she extended her ministry to offenders in Central Prison in Raleigh, NC during the late 1970’s. Harriott was also an accomplished artist, producing works that ranged from still lifes and portraits to protest banners against the Vietnam War, as well as paintings of California Missions and Colorado landscapes.

Harriott’s generosity, wisdom, and unwavering love for her family and community touched the lives of all who knew her. Her legacy of compassion and grace will continue to inspire those fortunate enough to have crossed her path.

A memorial service will be held at 2 PM on September 20, 2025 at Community United Church of Christ, 2650 Table Mesa Drive, Boulder, CO 80305. A reception will follow the
service. All are welcome to celebrate this extraordinary woman’s life. Harriott’s wish was to have her ashes spread at sea at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where she fondly
remembered happy times with her family. The family extends its gratitude to Dignity Hospice for their loving care and guidance during Harriott’s long transition from this life to the Cosmos, and also to the kind and dedicated caregivers at The Grand at Broomfield. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Earthjustice.