Remembering a pint-sized hero

He was known as the pint-sized hero who saved Winona from all manner of troubles including football losses, fires and bad guys.
He also was the five-year old grandson of West Concord residents Roger and Judy Quimby.
Gavin Nicholas Quimby, 5, of Winona lost his fight with metachromatic leukodystrophy Tuesday morning, his grandmother said, from complications following a stem cell transplant.
Gavin was three years old when he was diagnosed with the neurological disorder in December 2013. Metachromatic leukodystrophy causes the brain and nervous system to progressively lose function.
As his condition became known and the Winona community rallied around the boy, he became known as “Super Gav.” That led to a special day for him when he helped the Winona High School football team score a winning touchdown, helped the Winona Fire Department put out a fire and saved a damsel in distress when her purse was stolen.
At the end of his special day he stopped at City Hall where the Mayor, Mark Peterson, gave Gavin the key to the city and declared it to be “Super Gav Day.”
A film crew recorded all the events of the day and turned them into a film that was later shown at a benefit to help with Gavin’s medical treatments.
Last winter Winona legislator Jeremy Miller introduced the Super Gav Act to add metachromatic leukodystrophy and similar disorders to the list of conditions babies are screened for at birth.
In August of 2014 Gavin had chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant at the University of Minnesota as doctors tried to slow the progression of the disease. He was able to return home for Christmas but over the months his illness progressed. His family ultimately made the decision to stop the treatments and make Gavin as comfortable as possible, his grandmother said.
Gavin died Tuesday morning at his home in Winona.
Gavin is survived by his parents, Shanna and Nick Quimby of Winona; older sister, Ali Quimby, 8, his dog Rocco, paternal grandparents, Roger and Judy Quimby of West Concord, maternal grandparents, Jim and Julie Lueck of Redwood Falls, surrogate grandparents, John and Jullie Levinski of Winona; great grandparents Don and Helen Lueck of Redwood Falls; June Rindelaub of Marshall; Maxine Quimby of Kenyon and aunts and uncles and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his great grandparents Duane and Marcella Buck of West Concord, Rolland Quimby of West Concord and George Rindelaub of Marshall.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at Hoff Celebration of Life Center in Winona with the funeral service at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12 at Central Lutheran Church in Winona.
Memorials are preferred for MLD research and can be directed to Gavin Flying for a Cure at Merchants Bank, 102 E. 3rd St., Winona, MN  55987