In Memoriam
Dennis P. Lynch
Dennis passed away on April 10, 2021. Here are the following:
- Obituary
- Note from Ann Marie Lynch
- Remembrance by Rik Kaminsky ’64
- Remembrance by Tony Lavely ’64
- Slideshow
- Postscript by Ann Marie Lynch
Obituary
Published by Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank, NJ
Dennis P. Lynch
1964 graduation
Dennis Patrick Lynch entered eternal life on April 10, 2021, in his eightieth year.
Born in Jersey City, Dennis was a son of Thomas E. Lynch and Mary Doust Lynch. A longtime resident of Rumson NJ, he was a graduate of Red Bank Catholic High School. After spending a postgraduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy, Dennis earned a B.A. from Yale College in l964.
Upon completion of his service in the Coast Guard, Dennis married his former classmate Ann Marie Blades, his “best friend for life.” The newlyweds moved to Philadelphia where Dennis studied for his M.B.A. at Penn’s Wharton School, majoring in finance.
He became a V.P. at Smith, Barney & Co. before cofounding the investment advisory firm of Lynch & Mayer, Inc. in NYC in 1976. For twenty years L & M ranked nationally in the top quintile of large-cap investment managers. Early retirement years were partly spent in Hanover NH and Essex CT.
Ann Marie and Dennis in 2014
Throughout his school years and thereafter, Dennis pursued an outstanding athletic career, distinguishing himself on both the basketball and tennis courts. A member of the 1962 Yale Ivy League basketball championship team, Dennis was named an All-Ivy player in 1963 and 1964, was point guard for the Navy and All-Service Teams in 1965, and was drafted by the New York Knickerbockers of the NBA. Dennis was also captain of the 1964 Yale tennis team and of the Yale-Harvard team that played Oxford-Cambridge in the Prentice Cup matches of that year. Longtime singles and doubles champion of the Seabright Lawn Tennis & Cricket Club, in the year 2000 the Asbury Park Press voted him second-best player in the history of Jersey Shore tennis.
During the previous quarter century, aside from his election to the Rumson Borough Council, Dennis served on the Board of the Navesink House (now The Atrium CCRC) and was Vice-Chair of the Rumson Country Day School Board. He also headed the investment subcommittee of the Meridian Health Group after years on the Riverview Medical Center Foundation. In addition, Dennis served on the Yale Advisory Committee, and because of his loyalty and generosity to the University was named a Sterling Fellow. He served as well as the President of the Seabright Lawn Tennis Club where he was recently named an honorary member. A longstanding member of the Racquet and Tennis Club of NY, Dennis was also a member of the Seabright Beach Club and Rumson Country Club.
Dennis Lynch led an exemplary life. He was the quintessential Catholic gentleman and a decades-long parishioner of Holy Cross Church in Rumson. He “practiced what he preached,” saw the good in every person, and was the gentle, self-effacing one so many sought out for counsel. His patience, understanding, and supportiveness were incomparable (as was his wit!).
Dennis enjoyed the game of bridge and earned the rank of “regional master” from the American Contract Bridge League. His taste in music was eclectic, and he was everyone’s favorite dance partner, especially his wife’s.
Predeceased by his brother Thomas E. Lynch, Jr. and sister Maureen Lynch, Dennis is survived by his loving wife Ann Marie, his devoted children Kathy L. Hale (Jon), Dennis P. Lynch, Jr. (Marshall), William T. Lynch, and Nora A. Lynch, as well as by his brother Vincent. He also leaves his grandchildren Ted and Nick Hale, Eleanor and Coley Lynch, nieces Perri Howard and Meghan Lynch, nephew Nick Lynch, and several close cousins.
A Mass of Christian Burial and a celebration of Dennis’s life will be held on July 19 at Holy Cross Church in Rumson, NJ with a reception to follow at the Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club. Attendance is limited because of COVID restrictions.
Donations in his name are suggested to the Sisters of Mercy of NJ, Red Bank Catholic High School, and the SLTCC Landmark Preservation Friends. Thompson Memorial Home is entrusted with the arrangements.
And now, our Dennis dances with the angels.
Note from Ann Marie Lynch
June 1, 2021
Dear friends,
The outpouring of affection and admiration for Dennis has been overwhelming, indeed. From my slightly prejudiced point of view, however, it is well deserved.
Dennis was a wonderful man who, first and foremost, embodied so much of the integrity and essential goodness to which we all aspire. Through his many pursuits and activities, he touched so many with his characteristic respect for others and thoughtfulness toward all.
I thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart, for your sincere, and in many cases, quite profound, expressions of sympathy in the form of calls, visits, notes, letters, food deliveries, flowers and plants, books, companionship, and general supportiveness. I send additional thanks to the friends who requested Masses, both individual, local ones that I am able to attend, and those to be offered over time by the Church's religious-order priests, many of whom devote their lives to contemplative prayer for the faithful. Your commiseration, the solace and encouragement you have offered, and the warm wishes and prayers for peace for Dennis and me and for our children have meant a great deal to me and to our family.
Two kindred spirits wrote quite memorably, that as a long and happily married couple,
"God blessed you with the gift of each other", and
"You enjoyed a beautiful love story which ended at least a decade too soon".
Thank you all for being such good friends along the way.
With my love,
Ann Marie
Remembrance by Rik Kaminsky ’64
Read by Will Lynch at the July 19, 2021 memorial service for Dennis
Over the last few weeks it has been very difficult for me to sit down and organize my thoughts and convert them to words on paper. Difficult, not because I haven’t wanted to write something, but difficult because part of me still doesn’t want to accept that my very good friend, Dennis, is no longer with us.
I am so honored that Ann Marie has allowed me to share my thoughts about Dennis and our lives together. I am most grateful to have known Dennis for sixty years. Remarkably, we first met on the train ride from New York to New Haven in September 1960 to begin our freshman year at Yale. Thus began our trip together from teenagers to young men and subsequent adulthood.
Dennis was always a little wiser, a little smarter, a little craftier, a little smoother, a little more thoughtful, and a little more gracious than I. He was also a much better dancer than I, and I admired him for all of these qualities. Dennis was the consummate gentleman. There was always this part of me, just at the level of consciousness, that felt Dennis had more answers and was more knowledgeable than I, and I looked to him many times for his advice.
For four years at Yale, Dennis and I were inseparable. We were roommates, basketball teammates, clubmates, and fraternity brothers. We won many basketball games together and lost a few together. We attended classes together, studied together, and partied together. We did many good things together, and also a few things of which I am not so proud together. I was in his wedding and he was in my wedding. Later in life, even the miles that separated us did not diminish my affection or respect for Dennis.
Dennis’ career and achievements speak for themselves. He was successful at everything he did. He was amazingly successful in business, community work, and charity work. He was, most of all, successful as a family man, a devoted husband, father, brother, and good friend.
So why do we come together today for this memorial service? As I reflect on the past sixty years, I think Ann Marie is absolutely right. This is a celebration — a celebration of Dennis’ life well lived. We should celebrate that our lives intersected with his. We should celebrate that our lives were made better because of him. We should celebrate that every day we spent with him was a very, very special day. Dennis was a special man. We were all very lucky.
Ann Marie, you are a saint. Dennis chose wisely when he chose you. I am so sorry that I am unable to be with you today, but my thoughts and prayers are there.
Remembrance by Tony Lavely ’64
In addition to remembering Denny Lynch as a terrific athlete and an ebullient personality, I remember him as a dedicated Class Council member and 1964 Class Secretary from 1994 to 1999. He inspired all class secretaries that have followed him, including me.
Slideshow
These 15 photos were provided by Ann Marie Lynch. The slideshow advances every 8 seconds.
Postscript by Ann Marie Lynch
March 12, 2023
Our son, Dennis Jr., and I have established a highly competitive, four-year full-tuition merit scholarship in Den's honor and memory at our alma mater, New Jersey's Red Bank Catholic High School (RBC). In every future class at RBC, indefinitely, there will be a "Lynch Scholar," who is meant to exemplify those qualities of kindness, motivation, and integrity that made Dennis Sr. the wonderful man he was, a role model for all.
It was at RBC that Dennis and I met as ninth graders in 1955, and it was our memories from those formative adolescent years that formed the basis of our long and happy marriage.
Young Dennis followed his father into the world of finance, by the way, and is currently a managing director of Morgan Stanley and head of the company's Global Counterpoint Fund.
How proud Dennis Sr. would be!