Dave Quinn’s inquisitive nature took over when he sat down to be interviewed at a local coffee shop in town.

“Who’s your favourite author?” the retired pharmacist and long-time owner of Black’s Pharmacy asked, cappuccino in hand.

It’s a habit that comes with the job, he explained.

“When you run a chemist shop, drug store, you get the knack of talking to people and finding out more about them,” Quinn said.

“Curious is the word. Nosy’s the worst word,” he said.

Born in England, Quinn immigrated to Canada in 1965, becoming a licensed pharmacist in B.C. in 1967. In 1972, Quinn found himself in Merritt, where he became the owner of Black’s Pharmacy after buying the business from then-owner Archie Black.

“It’s a nice little town. I like it very much,” Quinn said of Merritt. “I’m very lucky to be here.”

Despite having his own drug store, Quinn said he was never really interested in owning his own business.

“I had no sense of business – none – and even now, I have no idea about running a business. None. I’m frankly not that interested. I just liked meeting people and talking to them, and making them feel better, and somehow I managed to stay afloat despite my total ignorance of how things worked,” Quinn said.

He did enjoy the freedom of being his own boss though.

“I had no real interest in money; I just liked being my own boss. I was the world’s worst employee. Being your own boss is great,” he said.

For over 40 years, Quinn served Merrittonians and their pharmaceutical needs, working six days a week and more than 60 hours a week for 20 of those years.

“You hope to leave the world a slightly better place then you found it,” Quinn said.

His career path was assured from the classes he liked in school.

“At school, the only things I was good at were Latin and chemistry, so there you are: a perfect mix. It was inevitable,” he said.

He also said the reason he became a pharmacist was because he enjoyed helping people.

He told the Herald he thinks the impact he made on Merritt as a pharmacist “was small, but hopefully slightly beneficial.”

In February of this year, Quinn finally called it quits after over 50 years of working as a pharmacist.

The job lost much of what Quinn had come to enjoy from his work. No longer was it as much about talking to people as it was about taking care of finances and logistic struggles.

“The profession got so bogged down with pressures from government and corporations,” Quinn said.

“There were so many more hoops to jump through, so many more reports to write.”

He sold his business to current owner Kurt Thoms in 2001, but continued to work as a pharmacist at Black’s for another 12 years.

“I loved it. I loved it. It took me 12 years to let go,” Quinn said.

Thoms first met Quinn in 1994 when he became manager at Pharmasave.

“First time I met him, basically, he just looked down his glasses at me and said – I introduced myself – and he just said, ‘Yes,’” Thoms said with a laugh. “And that was about the end of it.”

Quinn remembers it similarly.

“He came over and introduced himself. I guess I was kind of busy or distracted and I didn’t greet him like a long-lost son,” Quinn said.

Former owner of Pharmasave Rick Olsen, Quinn’s friend and competition for many years, said Quinn is a good man – and he would know.

Olsen said that in 1993, a fire gutted his pharmaceutical business, leaving him without a store.

Quinn shared the space in Black’s Pharmacy with Olsen, and he operated his business there before rebuilding and moving back to his old location.

“He was good to us,” Olsen said.

Thoms said what some may not know about Quinn is that he would visit with people over at Gillis House.

“He’s the guy that would go over on his own time with a Guinness and spend some time with these guys that everyone had sort of forgotten.”

Quinn still does hospice work in Merritt today, Thoms said.

Now that he’s retired at 72, Quinn has been keeping busy trying to play the piano and staying fit. He’s also an avid reader and enjoys sailing.

Quinn said he plans to visit his hometown of London every year if possible.