Lynne Christy Kaiser

Lynne Christy Kaiser (nee Sellman), 76, of New Market, MD, died at home surrounded by family on April 4, 2025, after a short illness.

Lynne was born a Navy brat in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Lloyd Ernie Sellman and Olive Grace Perrigo. Along with her two brothers, Jerry and Michael Sellman, the family moved over a dozen times before she graduated from high school.

Life eventually took her to Minnesota, where she would meet the love of her life, Wayne Kaiser. They seized every opportunity to get outside, even if that meant cross-country skiing and camping in the Minnesota winters. They married in 1980 and splurged on a glamorous honeymoon portaging their backpacks and canoe through the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. They soon moved to Parkville, Missouri, and had two daughters, Christy and Sara. As a family, they traveled the country camping out of their minivan, hitting as many national and state parks along the way as they could.

Lynne started off working in advertising, writing television commercials for various Twin Cities companies, but decided to change paths to pursue a career in litigation. After graduating from UMKC Law School in 1982, she completed a clerkship on the Missouri Court of Appeals and eventually became one of the first female shareholders at the Kansas City law firm of Seigfreid, Bingham, Levy, Selzer, & Gee. There, she built a successful employment law practice, addressing discrimination in the workplace and advising many clients, including her beloved Kansas City Chiefs. She set high standards for herself and others; she was well-known among the "baby lawyers," as she called them, for her piercing "over-the-glasses" look that meant you knew you could do better.

Despite being a trial lawyer, Lynne was the embodiment of "work-life balance." She managed to have a fresh-cooked meal on the table for dinner every night. Every year she sewed elaborate hand-made dresses for her daughters to wear in the family Christmas picture, a process that began in October. And she always made time for the little things: homemade apple pies in the fall, helping out backstage at dance recitals, and silly dancing around the living room. As her mentee and great friend Rachel said recently, Lynne was "the female mom trial lawyer who stayed in the game past 35; who showed me that great trial attorneys can also be great mothers."

Life wasn't easy on Lynne. Her health history was long well before she turned 50. Among other issues, she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 46, and she had numerous recurrences over the subsequent 15 years. Her health issues motivated her to retire early, at 55, to enjoy what time she had left.

As it turned out, she was blessed with another 21 years, and she made the most of them. Lynne and Wayne took off to see the world, traveling to over 30 countries and all 50 states. She devoted herself to volunteer work of all kinds: from serving Meals on Wheels around homeless communities in Kansas City, to building homes in St. Lucia, to writing grant requests for a number of free health clinics. And in retirement, she finally had the time to let her creative side bloom.

Indeed, Lynne's spirit is most fully captured by her art. In every discipline, she ignored the "rules" and did things her way. After one basic quilting class, she quickly began making "landscape" quilts-beautiful wall hangings made of fabric reflecting nature in all its forms. In the stained glass studio in her basement, she easily moved beyond basic geometric patterns to portray an eagle in flight, a close-up of a butterfly wing, or a babbling mountain brook. In sewing, she let her grandchildren design their own dresses; all the girls had to do was dream up "a multi-tiered floor-length dress made of cupcake fabric," or a "twirly dress with snakes on it," and the dress would appear at Grandma's next visit. She was also a skilled photographer and could knit any item of clothing.

At her core, beyond all of her incredible intellectual and artistic talents, Lynne was love. There was nothing she would not do for her family and friends. One could not help but feel cared for and comforted in her presence. She was compassionate and nonjudgmental. Lynne was a strong believer in the importance of having "real" conversations, rather than letting things simmer under the surface. She was not afraid to ask the hard questions, and she would stay right there with you to help you find the hard answers.

Throughout life, Lynne has always prioritized family. In 2008, she moved back to the Twin Cities to take care of her parents in their later years, and she relished the opportunity that the move provided her to reconnect with many nieces, nephews, and friends she had lived so far apart from for so many years. And then in 2013, she and Wayne followed their daughters to the Washington, DC area. From there, Lynne played the role of mother and grandmother extraordinaire, dropping everything to come to her daughters' aid on a moments' notice, and spoiling her two granddaughters at every opportunity. Even in the last weeks of her life, while suffering from confusion related to her illness, her face would light up in a huge smile at the sight of her family, and she would visibly relax in contentment upon hearing the words "I love you."

Before she died, Lynne made clear that she felt blessed to have lived as long as she did, with as much as love as she had.

Lynne is survived by her husband Wayne, her daughters Christy Kaiser and Sara Creighton (and her husband, Ryan), her granddaughters Ava and Lea Creighton, and her brother Michael Sellman (and his wife, Renee). Lynne was preceded in death by her parents, Ernie and Olive Sellman, and her brother Jerry Sellman.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, June 1, 2025 from 1:00-4:00pm at 7 Vines Vineyard & Winery, 101 Co Rd 96, Dellwood, MN 55110. If you are able to attend, please fill out this RSVP form.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in her name can be made to one of the free health clinics she worked for, listed below:

- Free Clinic of Pierce and St. Croix Counties, River Falls, WI

- Mission of Mercy Free Clinic in Frederick, MD.