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Glenview's Ralph Lynch remembered as business pioneer, showman, optimist

Ralph Lynch made so many parts of life in Glenview better.

If anyone wanted an event or an organization to be a success, they wanted Lynch to be a part of it.

"Throughout his life, he affected so many people," said one of his seven children, Ralph Lynch Jr. "He touched people everywhere he went, between his church and all his volunteerism, his work, his colleagues, his clients. They loved him - he still had clients to this day, all the generations."

Ralph Dennis Lynch Sr. died Jan. 13 at 84. He had been married 63 years to the former Judy Fargis. Their first date, at the movies, came six years earlier when Ralph was 15.

"He was just a great guy, a great friend, and he was very engaged in various aspects of the community," said Bill Attea, superintendent of Glenview District 34 from 1970-94 and the namesake of Attea Middle School.

"If you were having a dinner, if you were having a fundraiser, or having anything like that, he would be the type of person you want to keep the show going," Attea said.

Lynch was in his element pleasing people.

Lynch, who grew up in the Bronx, New York City, knew how to make people laugh and was a natural performer, the family noted in his obituary.

In Glenview, his talents were in demand for the annual Port-O-Call fundraisers at St. Catherine Labouré Church and School, where Lynch was an original parishioner. Building their own sets, writing their own skits featuring comedy and musical numbers, parishioners transformed classrooms into performance spaces over two weekends in the 1960s and 1970s.

Lynch's act was a "must-see," Ralph Lynch Jr. said. Attea agreed.

"He was really a very adept actor and he was very charismatic, and that room was always one of the more popular rooms in Port-O-Call," Attea said.

Lynch also performed in such places as Theater on the Lake in Chicago.

His middle son, Kevin Lynch, said a writer noted that his father had "a penchant for professionalism with his acting."

"He always thought that was really cool," Kevin Lynch said.

By profession, Lynch was a 44-year stockbroker and financial adviser with the firm that today is Morgan Stanley.

In this capacity he was a pioneer. Lynch was one of - if not the - first downtown broker to take his business outside of Chicago. In 1978, with partner and Glenview resident Robert Campbell, he established a suburban office in Glenview to make it more convenient for his clients.

It was because of this type of service that in 1988 the Glenview Chamber of Commerce named Lynch its Business Person of the Year. He also served from 1989-93 on the Glenview Village Board. Born June 3, 1938, as the fourth of nine children to Mary and Robert Lynch, before he attended Boston College and the University of Buffalo he played football and basketball at Iona grammar school and Iona Preparatory School in New York. He became involved in athletics and children's welfare for the rest of his life.

Lynch volunteered as a youth baseball and basketball coach, was a leader with the Optimist Club of Glenview for more than 25 years, and former president of North Shore Country Club in Glenview.

On Nov. 16, he attended the Optimist Club's annual presentation - the Ralph Lynch Youth Appreciation Awards.

"He was pretty unflappable as a father, I would say," Kevin Lynch said. "With seven children, he managed through all kinds of difficult situations. When you were really upset about something he had a way of calming you down and keeping things in perspective. He had this innate optimism that everything was going to be OK."

Lynch is survived by his wife, Judy, and children Ralph Jr., Jim, Kathleen Quillin, Kevin, Maureen McPeek, Eileen Samuels, and T.J.; 19 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.He also is survived by brothers Robert (Patty), Richard, Roger (Nancy), sister Rosemary (John) Whitmer, brothers Raymond (Kathie), Russell (Eileen), sister Rita (Mike) Gow, sister-in-law Susan. He was preceded in death by his brother, Ronald.

Hundreds of people attended Lynch's visitation Jan. 19 at Donnellan Family Funeral Services in Skokie and the Jan. 20 funeral Mass at St. Catherine Labouré.

"He had the respect of all these people because he loved them," Ralph Lynch Jr. said. "You felt that when you were with him. And his love for my mom was 69 years, and that never changed, that never faltered. That set the example for all of us who know him."

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