Abra Elizabeth Quinn

It is with profound sadness to share that after a 4-month ordeal fighting a 2nd occurrence of endometrial cancer, Abra Elizabeth Quinn passed away on October 14, 2025. Her last 3 weeks were spent peacefully in her home, surrounded by loved ones from near and far and her cat, Devlin.
Sister, Aunt, Friend, Comrade-- Abra will be missed beyond measure. She had a brilliant mind, joyful sense of humor, and an incredibly loving heart. Abra spent her entire life believing and fighting for a better world, one where people come before profits.
Born in 1966 in Madison, Wisconsin to Patrick and Martha Quinn, Abra was raised in the struggle. From her earliest childhood in a backpack carried by her parents to walking on her own, Abra grew up participating in protests and marches to make a more just world. From anti-Vietnam war protests to the fight for the ERA, anti-nukes, to Central American Solidarity, peace in Palestine and more, Abra worked to create the world she wanted to live in. In college she was an organizer of the anti-Apartheid divestment campaign at Northwestern University and was arrested for participating in a peaceful sit in. Again, to protest the 2nd Iraq war, Abra put herself on the line and was arrested here in California. She was a lifelong socialist, feminist, anti-racist revolutionary.
After a family trip to Montreal in middle school, Abra dedicated herself to becoming fluent in French. Her senior year of high school she won a scholarship from the Alliance Francaise to study in Paris the summer between high school and college. On this trip she also went to England and met lifelong friends and comrades. She returned to England her junior year of college and studied in Brighton. After college, Abra went to University of Missouri as a graduate student in American History. Her Master's Thesis was on gender, race, and class in the union organizing drives of lumber workers in the Piney Woods of Louisiana. She left academia before completing her PhD and returned to Chicago where she worked as a writing tutor with high school students. She loved this work and when she moved to the Bay Area in 1998, she became a teacher.
Abra worked as a middle school teacher in Oakland, and later San Lorenzo, for 27 years. She adored her students and their families, and thought constantly about her work. She taught her students to think critically and creatively about the content they learned, and to make connections about their school learning to their own lives. A voracious reader herself, she amassed a classroom library that had thousands of books. She was always ready with a recommendation for a book, and made a point to offer books that reflected the experience and heritage of her students as much as possible. She has been advisor to the student Rainbow Club, offering a safe space to all of her students over the years.
Abra was a devoted and deeply loved aunt to Ruby and Rosemary. She was like a 3rd parent and a friend to them. To her younger sister, Rachel, Abra was a friend and partner in caring for their mother who passed in 2018. Abra and her father, Patrick, were the family historians—both fascinated by genealogy and social history.
Abra was preceded in death by both of her parents, Martha Quinn (1939-2018) and Patrick Quinn (1942-2025). She is survived by her sister Rachel Quinn, nieces Ruby and Rosemary Marshall, step-mother Mary Janzen Quinn, and brother-in-law Tim Marshall.
A memorial will be held for Abra on Saturday, November 15th from 10:00-12:00 at Jess Spencer funeral home in Castro Valley, 21228 Redwood Rd, Castro Valley, CA 9454.

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