Colman “Quilly” Quill

Colman Miracle Quill,

better known as “Quilly,”

Minot, began his journey

to Heaven on January

10th, 2020, near Tucson,

Arizona. He arrived too

late to pull any strings on

behalf of the Vikings.

Anyone who ever met

Quilly understands that it

will be virtually impossi-

ble to capture the magni-

tude of his 70 years of life

and service within a few

column inches of news-

print. Our best effort fol-

lows.

Born on October 31st,

1949 in Flasher, North

Dakota, Quilly was the

son of Violet and Colman

Quill. He was the eldest of

three children, with two

younger sisters. He gra-

duated as Valedictorian

from New Leipzig in 1967.

He went on to attend col-

lege at the University of

North Dakota for several

years, majoring in geolo-

gy. He became president

of the Golden Feather

Club and belonged to the

Delta Upsilon Fraternity.

Quilly began working

for the Hanson-Maves Be-

kins Moving Company in

Grand Forks in 1974. It

was while he worked here

that he met Elodee Rux,

whom he would marry in

1979. When the company

opened a branch in Minot,

Quilly was entrusted to

manage it. He moved to

Minot with Elly and their

two children in 1982.

While working at Bekins,

the drinking habit Quilly

had adopted in college

developed into a

full-blown addiction, and

by 1990 his employer,

Larry Nielsen, gave him

an ultimatum: Get help,

or get a new job. Quilly’s

choice influenced every

facet of his life to his last

breath.

In October 1990, Quilly

entered inpatient treat-

ment for alcohol and drug

addiction at the Heartview

Foundation in Mandan.

Thus began a lifetime

commitment to recovery

and advocacy for the

recovery community. At

the time of his death, he

had 29 years, 3 months

and one day of sobriety.

Quilly and Elly di-

vorced in 1994. In 1997,

Quilly met Judy Zimmer,

and they married in 2002.

She was by his side until

the last moment of his

life. He remained at

Hansen-Maves until 1997,

when he began working

for Ward Warehousing

and Distribution. He

would later briefly work

for the Minot landfill be-

fore pursuing his true cal-

ling in recovery services.

In 2012, Quilly began

working for Rehab Ser-

vices Inc. as a peer sup-

port instructor. He

“retired” in 2015, but still

frequently volunteered to

fill in when needed.

Outside of work, Quilly

filled his time with activi-ties in pursuit of his faith

and in the service of oth-

ers. He and Judy belonged

to Faith United Methodist

Church, and in 2018 he

declared his membership

in the Baha’i faith. He fa-

cilitated Beginning Ex-

perience meetings and

weekend activities, and

became a certified cha-

plain, volunteering his

time and boundless em-

pathy at Trinity Hospital.

He served as a guest

preacher at small-town

area churches. Possibly

his favorite service activi-ty was performing as San-

ta in and around Minot,

especially for Easter Seals.

His dedication to the

recovery community can-

not be overstated. Since

beginning his own

recovery, he sponsored

countless others, and was

active in both AA and Al

Anon. He facilitated

weekly Big Book study

groups at the Chemical

Dependency Unit and oc-

casionally at the Ward

County Jail. He offered

support and guidance

without judgment, in

hope of helping others to

find the second chance at

life that he’d been given.

Quilly was a patron of

the arts. He loved travel,

hunting, and playing Ad-

vance Squad Leader, both

locally and in tourna-

ments around the coun-

try. He was a lifelong stu-

dent of history who

seemed to know every-

thing, but was always

eager to learn. Above all,

he was a student of

humanity. He would

strike up a conversation

with anyone who crossed

his path, and his warm

demeanor quickly put

others at ease. There were

no strangers in his world,

only friends he hadn’t met

yet.

Quilly is survived by

his wife, Judy; his chil-

dren, Ryan Rux, Minot

and Kymn (Loren) Files,

Mankato, MN; sister Char-

lotte (Kent) Olson; niece

Kari (Garrett) Todd;

great-nephew Turner

Todd; stepchildren Rachel

(Lee) Schneider,

Columbus, OH and Joe

Zimmer, Palm Desert, CA;

granddaughters Olivia

and Hannah Schneider,

Columbus, OH; as well as

many cousins. He was

preceded in death by his

parents, Colman and

Violet; stepmother, Viola;

sister, Beatrice; and infant

brother.

Celebration of life ser-

vice will be held in the

Grand International Ball-

room on Tuesday, January

28th at 2:00 p.m. In lieu

of flowers, donations can

be made to Easter Seals of

Minot.