Trilisa Ellen O'Quinn

Dr. Trilisa Ellen O’Quinn of Abbeville, Alabama passed away at home Tuesday morning, March 4, 2025. She was 50. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, 2025, in the Chapel of the Pittman Funeral Home in Samson, Alabama with Pastor Matthew Quincey officiating. A burial will follow at Travelers Rest Cemetery with Pittman Funeral Home of Samson directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home one hour before the service from 1:30-2:30 p.m.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Moffitt Cancer Center. 

Trilisa was born on October 15, 1974, in Montgomery, AL. Her family moved to Thomasville, GA when she was 3 years old where she enjoyed exploring, playing in the ditch creek at the back of the property, and keeping a collection of bugs in jars at the back garage door. She attended Brookwood School during her elementary and junior high years before moving to Huntsville, AL after 8th grade. She graduated from Grissom High School in 1992.

After high school, Trilisa started her college education at the University of North Alabama where she joined the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She then transferred to the Savannah College of Art and Design to pursue her love of art and received her B.A. in Graphic Design. She moved to Philadelphia to work for a marketing company, AB Internet, where she was involved in various projects including the cover of a tennis magazine. After the decline in dot com and broader layoffs following 9/11, she pivoted to helping others through massage therapy receiving her certification. Her speciality was deep tissue massage and she even worked with some of the Philadelphia Eagles players. Another time, she met Mark Wahlberg while doing chair massages in Philadelphia.

Massage therapy led her to work for a chiropractor in Philadelphia. It is here that she decided she would attend Life University in Marietta, GA to pursue her Doctor of Chiropractic (DC). At Life University, she found joy in bringing chiropractic care to areas that needed it during week-long volunteer programs in Mexico and Jamaica. While at Life University, she received a Master’s in Positive Psychology in 2016. Her fellow psychology classmates called her “the paisley on their checkerboard.” She was their encouragement and light who found joy in helping others in need and kept their group grounded. When she was 4 years old, her mother said she should be a psychologist.

Trilisa received her Doctor of Chiropractic in June 2020 from LIfe University. She was recognized on the President’s List in June 2020. As there were no graduation ceremonies during Covid, her mother, sister, niece, and nephews held a personalized graduation ceremony on Life University campus for her. After graduation she worked briefly in Philadelphia but with Covid restrictions returned to Alabama and started Reconnect at the Lake. Trilisa maintained licenses to practice in AL, FL, and PA. In 2022, she earned her Life Coach certification.

Dr. O’Quinn will be remembered for her strength and how she fought to the live to the end. She was diagnosed with breast and bone cancer in June 2023, but the diagnosis did not slow her down. She attended in-person seminars in October and November 2023 to renew her board certifications, then continued learning in webinars. She worked on Spanish through Duolingo and participated in a monthly Alpha Delta Pi book club. Her higher education was set to continue as she was in the process to start her Doctorate in Psychology.

Trilisa loved the water and enjoyed spending time at the beach where many of her pictures have her in her oversized sunglasses. Her smile would light up a room and bring a sweet, bright energy. She was happiest helping friends through tough moments and had a way of bringing peace. Trilisa had wise words to share and was always trying to figure out how she could help others and advise. She was an intuitive healer who had a heart to love people. At the lake, she enjoyed watching Claire’s (white egret) daily antics. She was talented at decorating and taking care of the small details including brochures, color schemes, and even the outdoor lighting at the lake and boat dock plus building a fire pit. She designed the logo for her mother’s AirBnb rentals and helped run the logistics of it for the lake, white house, and cottage. In the family, she had the green thumb for indoor and outdoor potted plants and usually had multiple plants at any place she lived. In the later months, she adopted a cat named Cornelius.

Her friends remember her sweet energy, Trilisa hugs, and kind, gentle soul. There is so much more that she wanted to do in the world to help and those who knew her can be inspired to pay that energy forward by helping others.

She was preceded in death by her father Henry O’Quinn. Trilisa is survived by her mother Sonna O’Quinn of Abbeville, AL; sister Cyndee O’Quinn of Gainesville, FL; nephew Jamey Seals (Lara) of Wilmington, OH; niece Kaitlyn Seals of Columbus, OH; nephew Quigley Seals of Gainesville, FL; nephew Patrick Seals of Gainesville, FL; Aunt Wanda Hendrickson and Uncle Ron Hendrickson; Aunt Sandra Ward and Uncle Doug Ward; and Aunt Denise Sanders and Uncle Steve Sanders, along with numerous cousins.

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