EULOGY - Alan Ellis Quintal - 1993-2024

Alan Ellis Quintal 12- 09-1993 to 16-11- 2024

Aged 31.

Al, Albie, Uncle Al, wet noodle, Son, Dad, Alan Ellis Quintal. I had to search my brain for the words you have to put in here, because how do you condense the life and heart of Alan Quintal into one short speech. Thanks Kel, for providing me with some content.

We are standing here again, and none of us expected to be… but, when have the Quintals ever done something we would have expected??

I think Peter has called on his brother. As Peter said, “I want to look after Alan should anything happen to Shane or Kaye”. Well brud, you gwen hat, and we will be here to look after mum and dad fe yorlye.

Alan, you sang heaven is a half-pipe to me more times than I can count, and now I believe it, heaven must be a half pipe, with a DJ Playing all night long.

There were a few things that Alan was known for, his big heart, his eclectic taste in music and his ability to lose things, which you all would have seen by his many Facebook posts.

Alan was born, 12 September 1993 to Shane Quintal and Kaye Pendleton the first (known) sibling to Peter, because as we all know, a few more siblings have popped up along the way.

Alan grew up very close to his uncle Pendo, or Bob, learning to mix music, and listening to tunes, calling on Pendo whenever he needed and could always rely on him to be there to back him up.

He made many lifelong friends through the years, from day care, Banyan and NICS where he did well at school, despite not attending all that often. He left school completing his school certificate in 2009 here on Norfolk Island and went straight into working.

Alan worked the ship alongside his brother Pete, from the age of 16, first in the lighter with Larrin. Working at lighterage has come with many funny anecdotes as many of you may have heard.

Like many of the locals, sAlan may have come to work slightly hungover once or twice. Despite being a little under the weather, Alan would always show up, and always work hard, often in a Lighter with Khan and Peter.

Alan moved out of lighters into running the crane, and worked to complete his Commonwealth Crane License which he got in 2021.

Alan told me that after Brit passed, he didn’t want to leave home, and we all know that draw to be here at home on Norfolk. Through growing up and particularly in the last 10 years, Alan like his eclectic taste in music, we saw an eclectic taste in friends, being an old soul, he had friends from every walk of life, on and off the Island.

You regularly saw him volunteering as a grave digger alongside his role as Deputy Sexton.

Most recently he secured a job which he very much loved, with Tintoela Eathmoving for his cousin’s Suze and Nath on the excavator. From the videos I’ve seen and despite recent circumstances, this was the happiest I’d seen Alan in a while.

Alan’s brother brought him his sister in-law Carissa who lived at New Farm while he was growing up. Alan’s love and staunch loyalty for Carissa and Pete’s children, Taj and Mim, his nephew and niece, was very much evident to everyone.

In Alan’s teens he met Megan. This relationship blessed them with two beautiful children, who both look more like Alan than Alan.

Slater, Alan’s oldest son was born on the 21^st June 2012 in Brisbane. They were then blessed again with the arrival of Billie who was born on the 26^th June 2016 on the Gold Coast. The children were the light of Alan’s life and his dream of having a family of his own had come to fruition.

Alan loved spending time with his children, taking them to the beach, teaching them how to ride motorbikes and just simply being with them as much as he could. Your Dad will always be there with you both.

Alan had been moving forward with a dream of building a property which he talked about often. Wanting to build a home for his children and a place of his own.

In a very short time Al touched the lives of so many people, and was more loved than he will ever know. In recent times, Al’s place was the most common place the boys would all “bump” into each other whilst chatting over a beer and taking a break from their everyday lives. In Hubb’s words, “Al was always there to listen and his door was always open, with cold beers in the fridge.” Al was never scared to talk about how he was feeing or what he was going through and his mates were always happy to listen to his trials and tribulations.

He was one of those friends where it didn’t matter if it had been one day, one week or one year, his friendships remained the same and always picked up exactly where they left off. Alan will be dearly missed.

Your giggle and that smile will forever be embedded in our hearts and memories Albie. We love you.

Reading

I would like to thank you all so much for coming today to celebrate the life of this beautiful complex soul. Al was a diamond cut deep from this earth and we all got a different glimpse of the light he cast depending on where you stood in his life. The light that he shared with me was a little different from that wild party bloke that he most definitely had inside of him as well.

He was his own person. And in the many versions of Al he was also a son, a brother, a nephew, a father, an uncle, a cousin and a mate.

But despite his earthly presence, he always had his own wings. Because he was more than many of us could truly understand. Sometimes, this included him as well. Al was an energy that transcended this space, yet he had to make a stop here to share that rigid and fierce love he felt for us all.

This love was given so freely to all that walked alongside or crossed paths with this man. So many of us here today have our own precious memories of Al and they will forever be echoing in our hearts and minds. And I am sure he will be reminding us in his many ways.

I know that there is no one who will ever tell me again in one breath everything I want hear, and in the next the absolute honest and harshest of truths. I have been wondering what we are now supposed to do with all of the love that lives in our hearts for this beautiful man. But the answer is to continue to let it freely cascade as his does for each of us here today. Al will forever be our safeguard as we continue to walk this earth and find our way through the wild path of life.

I am so grateful for every moment we shared together and smile today as I feel him with us all in blissful peace. None of us could have hoped for a more loyal and beautiful human being to have on our side in this crazy world.

My darling. Go with peace and know how deeply loved you have been and will always be.

THANK YOU 

Where does one start in thanking a community that has given so much love and support to us and our families over the past month. Our gratitude and thanks to so many of you just don’t seem enough.

To everyone that was there for Pete during his fight. Some for a brief period and some since his battle began three years ago, your love and support for everyone knew no bounds and is deeply appreciated.

To all of the emergency services, doctors, nurses and hospital staff who worked tirelessly for Al with such love and kindness, you are amazing. Thank you!!

There are many people who travelled to be here and support us through these sad and emotional times and joined in with the many people here in providing us in so many ways with immeasurable support with anything and everything. Our families are forever thankful and grateful for all your love and support.