Richard Lynn

Richard Keppie Lynn

November 14, 1933 - January 10, 2015

Born in Hackensack, NJ, to Don and Ruth Lynn, Dick grew up in Elmira, NY, and left home after the 10th grade to attend the Loomis School in Windsor, CT, founded by his great-grandmother Nellie Loomis? family. After his family moved to Cleveland, OH, where his father was an executive with the Erie Lackawanna Railway, he attended the Case Institute of Technology receiving his degree in Industrial Engineering. Following a stint in the US Air Force, Dick received an MBA from Ohio State University, attended Harvard Business School, and became a professor at UC Berkeley?s Business School. Newly arrived on the West Coast, he met and soon married Evadna Saywell. Liking the real world better than the academic world, he joined Arthur D. Little, Inc., as a consultant specializing in the real estate and wine industries and was instrumental in planning Mission Viejo and Florida?s Sawgrass communities. He took part in various viability studies in the then-developing Napa Valley wine industry, including work with Domaine Chandon, Clos du Val, Robert Mondavi winery, and his own Lyncrest Vineyards. During this period, Dick and his family enjoyed a weekend home in the Napa Valley.
From 1976, while his wife Evadna was employed in New York City, he maintained their San Francisco home, raising their two children, Douglas and Lisa, and supervising the restoration of their historic 1892 Victorian house. Despite their peripatetic lifestyle, Dick and Evadna remained loyal 49ers fans and season ticket holders for 30 years. After the children went off to college, Dick moved to New York City until Evadna retired in 1998, returning to San Francisco. During the next decade, they enjoyed travelling and fulfilling dreams inspired while he was a board member at the World Affairs Council. Over the last fifteen years, they divided their time between San Francisco and Napa Valley, eventually moving to Yountville.
Dick is survived by his wife of 52 years, Evadna, and their two children, Douglas and Lisa. A memorial service will be held at the San Francisco Columbarium on Wednesday, January 28, at 2:00 p.m., 1 Loraine Court, San Francisco, CA 94118.
Memorial contributions may be made in memory of Richard Lynn either to the Civil War Trust, which is dedicated to the preservation of Civil War battlefields, at 1156 15th Street, NW, Ste 900, Washington, DC 20005, or to The Loomis Chaffee School at 4 Batchelder Road, Windsor, CT 06095.