QUINCY SINCLAIR MCDOUGAL

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Quincy Sinclair McDougal died unexpectedly March 23, 2026, in Fayetteville, N.C.

Quincy was born at home in Bristol, Vt., Jan. 11, 1992, to Mary E. Arbuckle and Nicholas U. McDougal. He grew up with his older brother Nick in South Lincoln, exploring the meadows, streams, and forests of Addison County. They made regular childhood visits to extended family on the coast and mountains of Maine, where Quincy was the youngest of a large and adventurous group of cousins.

Quincy attended the Lincoln Community School and the North Branch middle school before first venturing beyond the Green Mountains to attend the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn. There, he developed his passion for athletic achievement and competed on both the lacrosse and football teams. Quincy left a lasting impact on Hotchkiss faculty and classmates, who describe his tenacity and fearlessness, his warmth of soul, and how he was a “friend who always had your back.”

Quincy’s drive and head-first pursuit of his interests would be a defining part of his life, and during his grade school years his interest in aviation led to participation in the Flight Experience For Youth program at Sugarbush Soaring in Warren, Vt., where he worked as line crew in exchange for flying lessons. He achieved his private glider pilot certification at age 15, and took his dad for a glider ride above the Mad River Valley ski slopes where his dad first taught him to “snowplow” as a kid.

Quincy successfully balanced high school athletics and academic achievement and was admitted to Amherst College, where he regretted having to pick just one sport. He chose lacrosse, and continued to thrive in the comradery and competition of team sports while majoring in Economics and Psychology. At Amherst, as at Hotchkiss, Quincy forged friendships that would endure through the years and across the diverging paths of life that followed.

After helping Amherst Lacrosse reach the NESCAC championship game in an 18-3 2015 season, Quincy graduated and entered the fast-paced world of finance, working as analyst for firms in New York, then Boston. Over the course of his twenties he established himself in his field, but found himself seeking other ways to direct his energy, ambition, and immense capacity for hard work.

Pausing to reflect on his career, Quincy threw himself with characteristic focus and determination into a developing interest in road and gravel bicycling. In August of 2021, he headed west to begin his next adventure, and departed from the Canadian border near Whitefish, Mont. to ride the 2,400-mile continental divide bike route, arriving in October at the Mexican border in Columbus, N.M. He bicycled to higher elevations than he’d piloted a glider as a teenager, and reported back to Vermont when cell service allowed with descriptions of glaciers, wildfires, and desert, and of encounters with bear, elk, and antelope.

Since childhood, Quincy had been inspired by the idea of military service, specifically the Special Forces. In 2022 he enlisted in the Army National Guard as an 18x and was assigned to the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne). In the following years he excelled in Special Forces Selection and Assessment, completed the rigorous Special Forces Qualification Course, and in the summer of 2025 invited his family to the ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., in which he officially donned the Green Beret. Quincy described having “found his tribe” in this new brotherhood of service members.

Quincy achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant and chose to specialize as Special Forces Medical Sergeant. He trained hands-on in life-flight choppers and emergency rooms, delivering babies, responding to emergencies, and becoming an expert at saving lives.

Throughout his lifetime of achievements, Quincy was to those who knew him a good hang, a thoughtful and caring friend, brother, teammate, cousin, nephew and son. — never boastful, a quiet leader among his peers, always conscientious and attentive towards his relationships old and new.

Quincy is survived by his parents, Nicholas U. McDougal and Mary E. Arbuckle; his brother, Nicholas C.A. McDougal; his aunt, Jane O. McDougal; and the large extended Arbuckle family in Maine and beyond. He is survived by his wife (separated), Storm Bowen, who remembers their adventures together fondly. He is also survived by his current partner, Diana Gibson, who he looked forward to making a life with in Utah.

All are invited to a celebration of Quincy’s life at his mother’s home Saturday, July 11, from 2-5 p.m., at 444 French Settlement Road, Lincoln, Vt.◊