Maureen L. Lynch

1938 - 2021

Maureen L. Lynch, 83

1938 - 2021

Monterey, CA - Maureen Louise Lynch, whose smile lit up every room she entered and who made everyone she encountered feel loved, special, and appreciated, died Sunday, Dec. 19 in Monterey, California from complications related to Alzheimer's disease. She was 83.

Born June 14, 1938 in Hartford, Connecticut, she spent most of her life in Lynn and Salem, Massachusetts before she moved to Monterey in 2017 to live with her daughter Paulette and family. She and William J. Lynch married in 1958 and, in 46 years of marriage, raised six children in a two-story home with one bathroom (and no dishwasher!), carrying endless loads of laundry down and up a set of rickety wooden stairs to the basement.

When her own kids were grown, she offered day care in her home for kids from toddler age into grade school and built lifelong friendships with many of them. She then began a decade-long career as a teller and head teller with Eastern Bank in Lynn and Salem, weathering two bank robberies with aplomb during her tenure. She was a mentor to her younger colleagues, and always the first teller that customers requested, even if there was a line at her window.

Maureen was head cheerleader for all her children's and grandchildren's accomplishments – in academics, sports, in the arts, and in all their chosen careers. She adored her grandchildren and delighted in the time she was able to spend with her first great-grandchild when she moved to California.

She enjoyed traveling with girlfriends to Florida and going on cruises and European vacations with her daughter Susan and her family. In Monterey, she quickly became a sparkling presence around the county, as a member of the arts-focused Carmel Sunset Rotary Club, at events for the Arts Council of Monterey County and a host of other nonprofit organizations, occasional concerts and plays with grandson Gabe Peterson, and in the circle of friends in Paulette's monthly global dinner club.

Maureen Lynch is survived by her brother, Wayne Drew (Donna) of Peoria, AZ; children Paulette Lynch (Ken Peterson) of Monterey, Marianne Lynch of Reading, VT, Susan Smith (Freling) of Stephentown, NY, Denise Flynn of Beverly, MA, William J. Lynch Jr. of Middleton, MA, and Sean Lynch of Stamford, CT; five grandchildren (Shawn Lynch, Kelsey and Connor Flynn, Gabriel Peterson, Freling Smith IV); and great-grandson Maverick Lynch.

She was preceded in death by her husband, and by her parents, George and Laurea Thibault Drew.

A celebration of her life is planned at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to Care Dimensions Hospice care, 75 Sylvan St., B-102, Danvers 01923; or to Northeast Animal Shelter, 347 Highland Ave., Salem 01970.