BARNSTABLE, MA - John H. Lynch,
65, formerly of Winchester, died Sunday, April 4, 2004.
An outstanding high school
athlete, he became well known as center of Winchester High
School's state championship teams in the mid-50s. Legendary
basketball coach Ted Bartlett recognized his potential and
visiting the then eighth-grader at home, presented him with a
basketball and the advice that if he applied himself he could
become a skilled player.
As
predicted, Mr. Lynch became center of a team that featured an
all-star cast including Joe Bellino, 1961 Navy Heisman Award
winner. Having won two Tech Tournament Championships, the team
they co-captained voted to move up a division to Class A,
losing in the finals to Durfee High of Fall River in the last
seconds of the game. He went on to play basketball while a
student at UMass and remained an enthusiastic supporter of
Winchester's Youth Basketball for the rest of his life.
In
1960, he joined his father in the operation of the Hodge
Boiler Works, a manufacturing company founded in 1865, and
situated for over 100 years on Boston Harbor. As president of
Hodge, starting in the 1970s, he represented the fourth
generation of the Lynch family to hold that position. He began
as a fabricator of boilers needed to convert clipper ships to
steamships. Over the years, the Hodge name came to be
identified with the highest standard in the manufacture of
quick-opening doors for pressure vessels used in a variety of
applications. The Hodge property is currently in the planning
stages of development for a multi-use waterfront complex, part
of which will retain the nostalgic name of the Hodge Boiler
Works.
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John and Judy Lynch admiring a deck
prism in 1994
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An
avid outdoorsman, Mr. Lynch enjoyed all aspects of nature.
Having spent many boyhood summer days ocean fishing with his
father, Mr. Lynch once caught a blue-fin tuna in local waters
that weighed in at more than 900 pounds.
His love of the ocean
was continued later in life when he became an experienced
sailor, signing on to crew on sailing ships, whether tall or
small. He was enthralled by the sea, and became an active
supporter and participant in many maritime organizations such
as the American Sail Training Association, the National
Maritime Historical Society and aboard schooners such as
Gloucester's Adventure, Boston's Pilot, New Bedford's Ernestina,
Spirit of Massachusetts, Lettie G. Howard, Harvey Gamage and
the Anne Kristine.
He never missed the Gloucester Schooner Race held over Labor
Day weekend, a magnificent gathering of ships every year.
This
photo of John in the Greek Fisherman's cap (to the left) was
taken on the final sail of the Pilot out of Gloucester with
Norm Paulsen in black leather jacket and also in Greek
cap at the helm. The ship left the dock with nothing being
said. Norm just decided it was time to go, and
somehow, the lines got cast off! Someone forgot to keep
tension on the tops'l sheets as the main was raised and one
became jammed in the block on the end of the gaff. The mate,
some cowpuncher from Montana, walked out on the gaff and cut
the line.
John's striking photographs of ships and nautical scenes further
expressed his passion, earning him the family nickname
"Schooner."
At
the request of the family, contributions in Mr. Lynch's memory
have been made to the Schooner Ernestina Commission, P.O. Box
2010, New Bedford, MA 02741-2010.
More than $5,000 has thus
far been received.
We share the warm regards toward John of his many
friends and appreciate their generosity in their gifts
to the Schooner Ernestina.
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John Lynch and
Sukey Padawer (former HIOBS instructor and former
crew on Spirit of Massachusetts) taken around 1992 in Gloucester
after a fundraiser breakfast aboard the Adventure
John Lynch aboard
for one of the many Gloucester Schooner Races over
Labor Day weekend with Laurie Belisle and Elizabeth
Buckley. No wonder he never missed a race! |
John Lynch and
Director Gregg Swanzey on Ernestina during the
Gloucester Schooner Race in 1997 |
Gordon Grant,
John's neighbor from Yale Street in Winchester, one of
the Pilot crew, Elizabeth Buckley, and
John, probably around 1992 |