Marty Quintana didn’t just serve sandwiches — he made friends with the people who bought them.
Quintana, who co-owned and managed the Heidi’s deli at 101 W. Colfax Ave., died Thursday at his Arvada home of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He was 45.
A rosary is planned at 7 p.m. Thursday, and funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday, both at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 7595 Federal Blvd.
Quintana remembered names and what people usually ordered and sometimes knew the personal lives of his customers.
“He was kind, gentle and funny and made everyone feel special,” said a friend from high school, Monica Pino of Denver.
“He loved the people and got joy from waiting on them,” said his longtime partner, Jerry McBride. “He would be happiest when he could whip up a breakfast (at home) for 50 people.”
Often Quintana fixed Mexican food for huge crowds at special events at Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Church, said his sister Nicole Retana of Westminster.
Despite 12-hour days at the deli, Quintana had other interests: He sang at weddings and funerals, played the guitar, was a self-taught pianist and was a decades-long Beatles fan. McBride said he had 60 Beatles T-shirts, in every conceivable color and design.
Quintana sang from the time he was a child. His father, Lloyd Quintana, recalled when he and his wife, Geraldine, went to a program at which their young son was to sing.
“I didn’t even know he could sing,” said Lloyd Quintana. “I just prayed, ‘Oh, God, let him remember the words.’ ”
When Marty Quintana stood up and sang, “I was shocked. He has a beautiful voice,” recalled his dad.
Marty Quintana was born in Denver on Nov. 14, 1964, and graduated from Regis High School.
He was in sales before he opened a Heidi’s in Broomfield and then the one in downtown Denver.
“We liked Marty, and we liked the food,” said Cindy Carley of Broomfield, who, with her husband, sometimes went to the Broomfield location four or five times a week. They were sometimes invited to spend holidays with Quintana and McBride.
“He always believed he was going to beat this illness,” Carley said.
In addition to his partner, father and sister, he is survived by three sons: Evan Quintana-McBride of Arvada, Beau Quintana and Trae Quintana, both of Westminster; a daughter, Bailey Chavez of Denver; one granddaughter; two other sisters, Sherri Rhoads of Westminster and Cindy Peña of Denver; and his former wife, Debbie Quintana of Arvada. His mother preceded him in death in 2008.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
