Robert Quinn, former attorney general and House speaker of Massachusetts, died on Sunday at the age of 85, My Fox Boston reported.

Quinn's death was confirmed to The Associated Press by Hannah Downing, the manager of his law office in Boston. He reportedly passed away at his Falmouth home.

He served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1957 to 1969 and served as Speaker for the last two years. He is well known for the Quinn Bill, which offers higher pay to police officers with college degrees.

James Morris, his founding partner at the Quinn and Morris law firm, said the Quinn Bill had a highly positive impact on police.

"There was a lot of disdain for police officers and authority figures, and this police incentive that he put through, the Quinn Bill, revolutionized law enforcement," Morris said.

He added that Quinn was "very true to his family, his religion, and his friends. And he just never, ever varied."

From 1970 to 1974, he was the attorney general until losing to Michael Dukakis in the Democratic primary for governor. He went on to serve as chairman of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.

Former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn remembered Quinn as a "political leader of intelligence and integrity ... remembered for his decency and commitment to fairness and rule of the law."

Quinn won a scholarship to Boston College High School and received a football scholarship at Boston College. While in college, he became extremely ill with tuberculosis and spent three years in the hospital.

Once he recovered, he graduated from college and went on to Harvard Law School.

"He was an exciting man to be around," said Quinn's daughter, Elaina. "People would always stop him and say, 'hello.' It was always happiness for him."