Beloved gas station owner remembered as Bloomington’s ‘Mayor of Main Street’

BLOOMINGTON (25News Now) - Elmo Quinn, owner of a gas station just north of Downtown Bloomington, was one of the Twin-Cities’ most popular small business people.

Quinn died Wednesday at age 82. His passing led many on social media to remember his kindness and his smile.

Retired WJBC Radio personality Don Munson said Quinn “put a smile on more faces than anybody I can think of.”

He owned and operated Quinn’s Shell for 36 years until he retired in 2013. His father and uncle formerly owned the station when it was known as Quinn’s Texaco.

The business is cited as an example of merchant-to-customer service on the McLean County Museum of History’s “Working for a Living” website.

“Though every other gas station in McLean County eventually installed self-service pumps, Quinn’s did not. Elmo believed in traditional customer service and continued to pump gas, wash windshields, and check engines and oil for all of his customers,” the museum’s website said.

In 2019, Quinn was honored with the WJBC Don Munson Spirit of McLean County Award.

“Known as the Mayor of Main Street, Elmo would wash your windows, pump your gas, and would always bring a smile to his customer’s day,” his obituary said.

Quinn is survived by his wife Eula, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Quinn’s funeral will be Monday at Holy Trinity Church, next to his old gas station and where he brightened the lives of so many.

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