Christopher Paul Lynch

Christopher Paul Lynch

June 22, 1948 - July 1, 2023

QUEENSBURY - Christopher Paul Lynch of Queensbury, NY, passed away at home early Saturday, July 1, 2023. He was 75.

Born June 22, 1948, in Stockholm, Sweden, he was the adopted son of John Bernard and Gretchen Dowling Lynch. John Lynch served as an attache to the U.S. Ambassador at the American Embassy in Stockholm. Several years later the family moved to Nutley, NJ, in the United States, then Pelham Manor where Christopher was naturalized as a US citizen. His father acquired two radio stations in Glens Falls, where the family then relocated. He named his company Normandy Broadcasting (he had survived the first wave of the Normandy invasion).

Chris attended the St. Mary's/St. Alphonsus school in Glens Falls, also the Darrow School in New Lebanon, NY. After high school, he attended Rutgers, then enlisted in the Army in 1967. He was stationed in Germany for two years, then deployed to Viet Nam in 1969. There he served in the Headquarters of the 52 Artillery Group. He was awarded an Army Commendation for his service there, after working to extinguish a blaze which threatened to destroy a building with stored ammunition and valuable military equipment. Upon honorable discharge, he returned home in July 1970. He completed studies at Ithaca College studying Journalism and over the next several years started, operated and sold several businesses - a taxi service, cable TV service, etc. When his father's health began to fail, Lynch stepped into the breach and began to work at WWSC-AM to learn the radio station business. After his father passed away, Lynch took over the operation of the station and kept it running. He later added an FM license and established Y96, or WYLR (Young Lynch Radio) FM 95.9.

A journalist at heart, Lynch poured most of the profits from the stations back into the community over decades through news coverage and public affairs work. Support services, college scholarships health screening, services for veterans and the needy, Toys for Tots, and holiday toy, food and clothing drives were initiated and run through Normandy Broadcasting. Under Lynch's management WWSC and WYLR won frequent awards and citations for journalistic excellence and outstanding community service at local to national levels. His stations' news staff was several times the size of any competitors.

Lynch started a radio program based on community needs, called Recovery Radio. The show was a talk/call in program, and would direct listeners and callers to sources of immediate help for drug and alcohol addiction, and was the first show of its kind in the country. At one point, faced with the loss of a major sponsor if he didn't pull the show, Lynch refused, because the demonstrated need for the show was so great.

He was a founding member of the Viet Nam Veterans of America, and New York delegate to its first national convention in 1983. When the local chapter 79 was being formed, Lynch put the resources of Normandy behind the group, hosting Jim Brown and Ned Foote on the call-in talk show "Speak Up" several times to reach out to other Viet Nam veterans in the area. VVA NY State Chair Ned Foote said, "Anything I needed, I would call Chris." Lynch helped them to fundraise for the monument at ACC and by some accounts tracked down the source of the marble used for the Washington monument on the mall, so that the same source in Zimbabwe could be used for the ACC memorial. He helped secure a van to provide veterans free transportation to the Stratton VA in Albany, after showing the cost effectiveness to the County of doing this over supporting the veterans' increasing health care needs thru Medicaid.

Lynch was a member of Viet Nam Veterans Motorcycle Club Chapter G, and his love of motorcycles and his 1959 Corvette were only exceeded by his passion for ballooning. He became involved in the sport when Walt Grishkot came to him in the early 1970s looking for help and support in getting a balloon festival started in the area. Lynch got behind the event 100%, promoting it and live broadcasting from a balloon at the first event and in continuing years. He sponsored a gas balloon flight from the festival in 1983, and it was at this event that he was to meet pilot Maureen Mullen, whom he married October 21, 1989, at St. Mary's Church in Glens Falls. He acquired his own balloon, and over the next years flew in the US and internationally - Canada, Jamaica, India and Qatar, and flew gas balloons in Belgium. He flew a balloon in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics ceremonies. He also traveled to France, the UK, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Germany, Thailand, Singapore and St. Kitts. He also loved oriental art, guitars, airmail collecting, technology and books. For years he kept a boat on Lake George.

Chris Lynch is survived by his wife, Maureen; his two children: Dorothy and John; his sister, Tonie Weller of Quebec; his cousins: Alice Clarkin of Rhode Island, and John Clothier of Florida; and cousins on his mother's side through upstate NY, and multiple nieces and nephews, and in-laws.

Public calling hours will be Sunday, July 16, 2023, from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at Regan Denny Stafford Funeral Home at 53 Quaker Rd., Queensbury, NY.

Funeral Services will be Monday 10:00 a.m. at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church, 448 Aviation Rd., Queensbury followed by inurnment at Saratoga National Cemetery, 200 Duell Rd., Schuylerville, NY, at 12:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be made to Adirondack Vets House, Inc. at 26 Pine St., Glens Falls, NY, 12801.

Those who wish may make online condolences at sbfuneralhome.com.