In memoriam - Tony Lynch - Life Story

Francis Anthony Lynch was born 25 August, 1933 in Blakely, Manchester, to James and Kathleen Lynch. James was a fishmonger, and town councillor, who ran his business out of the Smithfield Market in north Manchester. Kathleen stayed at home and raised the boys. It was a traditional Manchester Catholic family upbringing. Tony was the oldest of three brothers, James and Paul.

Tony grew up in No 1209 Rochdale Road, Blakely, and attended St Bede’s Roman Catholic School for boys. He excelled at rugby and played at county level. Tony did his military service in the Royal Signals based out of Catterick Army camp. In those days he rode a triumph motor bike and enjoyed hill walking in the Lake District, socializing in the Young Conservatives and Young Farmers club. Tony dreamed of being a lawyer, but Latin was his stumbling block. So, after National Service, rather than go to University, he joined Marks and Spencer as a retail manager, working his way up to become a store manager.

During this time whilst working in Wigan in 1956 he met a young and attractive personnel manager by the name of Sandra Anna Greenhaugh. They had been acquaintances in the Young Farmers and Young Conservatives clubs, but romance blossomed on Wigan train station over a glass of Bass Carrington’s beer during their daily commute, in different directions, home to Manchester and Liverpool.

Despite the moving from store to store demanded by Marks and Spencer’s they stayed in travelling distance of each other, became engaged in Easter 1959 and married in June of the same year. They honeymooned in Yugoslavia, an unusual choice for those days.

In 1960, they were living Kingston, when their first son, David Dominic, was born. Kieron John was born 18 months later. Sandra gave up work and they moved to Manchester, and then to Lemington Spa and then to Luton. The constant travelling became less attractive.

In 1968, they decided to buy a rundown pub in the village of Ashwell, Hertfordshire. The pub was called the “Bushel and Strike”. Within 25 years they had built it into thriving business, serving good beer, exotic food and drawing customers from far and wide.

Father, in his heart was a retailer and a business man. He loved the idea of building the pub up and letting run efficiently. He though hard about staffing, sourcing suppliers, margins, return on investment, stock levels and wastage. He was precise, focused and methodical. He was good at it and he was successful. He was able to provide for his family, buy a nice house in the countryside and indulge a common love of good food, wine and travel with Sandy. Together they were an unbeatable team. Sandy provided the sparkle: Tony, a solid foundation.

In 1993 Sandy and Tony retired from the Bushel after 25 years of hard work. During their visit for Kieron and Caroline’s wedding in 1994 the idea to move to New Zealand came up. “One last great adventure” as they coined it. And so it was that they came to move eventually to New Zealand in 2001. The move was adventure for sure, and they settled in a beautiful house in the country at Ararimu with breathing taking views of the Hunua range.

Throughout this transition period Sandy struggled with cancer and Tony was her rock, caring for her during this time. He took over the kitchen. He was a good cook, precise, focused and methodical.

When Sandy passed on in November 2006 it was a shock to everybody. Tony carried on, keeping the house going and keeping contact with his grandchildren Rebekka Sigrun, Eirikur Anthony, Sandra Kristin and Stella Marcel and Georgia.

Afi Tony was a regular at Strathalen School events where he was an enthusiastic supporter of Stella and Georgia. In these years he travelled often to Europe and Iceland, visiting Rebekka, Eirikur and Sandra, passing on to them an appreciation of good food during visits to various restaurants. During these trips he renewed his acquaintance with a childhood friend Ms Bobbie Leigh, and they became companions.

Tony was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2009. He moved out of Ararimu to Karaka Summerset homes in 2015 and from there to a nursing facility in April 2019. He took the news with grace and stoicism. His focus was on approaching the disease methodically and with precision, working to manage the consequences and still get the most out of life. In the last days, that is what he did. Regular Friday night family suppers, the occasional glass of wine, oysters from Clevedon, skype calls to Iceland.

Known as a witty, charming and generous man, the very right honourable Francis Anthony Lynch remained so in the face of this grim disease. As he was heard to say on occasion “it´s not the Parkinson’s that´s going to get you” and it wasn´t.

Tony died peacefully in his sleep in 27 May 2019.

In memory of Tony Lynch

We all loved Afi Tony. Though he lived on the other side of the world, his visits were always full of stories and food. His adventurous tastes in this regard made us gasp, whether it was his choice of lamb brains or eels on toast.

He was intent on our success in life, listening to us explain our dreams and offering kind words.

He was our serious Afi, always ready with the best advice; although for us, some of it was confusing. It took us a long time to work out the meaning of the expression “don’t cut off the nose to spite the face".

Most importantly, Afi Tony loved our Amma Sandy, and together they created a life full of adventure, extravagant food and hospitality.

We miss you Afi.

Rebekka, Eirikur, Sandra

In memory of Tony Lynch

I would like to thank Tony for welcoming me so warmly into the family and making my first visit to New Zealand very special.  I will remember fondly our chats both in person but not at least the through many skypecalls we had. It was so amazing for someone at his age to take on modern technology so frequently with the Icelandic Lynch gang. It is also with joy that I will remember all those great meals we had together both down under, and up in the North. I have him to thank that I learned to enjoy good red wine after attending the “Tony Lynch Wine school” during my first New Zealand trip in 2007. 

Tony kept his humour and good spirit all to end. I will always be grateful for our time together in my visit to New Zealand last February and March, makes the sadness of our loss bit more bearable.

With an Icelandic psalm I say “Farewell Tony”

Lækkar lífdaga sól.

Löng er orðin mín ferð.

Fauk í faranda skjól,

feginn hvíldinni verð.

Guð minn, gefðu þinn frið,

gleddu' og blessaðu þá,

sem að lögðu mér lið.

Ljósið kveiktu mér hjá.

Anna Bryndís Hendriksdóttir

We were so sad to hear about the passing of Tony and would like to express our deepest condolences to you all at this difficult time.

It was always a pleasure to welcome him into our home on his visits to Iceland, both in the city and in our summerhouse, where we enjoyed his good company and stories. He leaves us with many fond memories.

Our thoughts are with you,

Hendrik and Iris   

We want to express our deepest sympathy and let you know that our thoughts are with you today. 

From the very first time we met Tony at his welcome to Iceland party in the valley of[AB1]  Elliðárdalur he showed us right away that he was a strong character and was able to take on the role of host even though he was meeting large group of in laws there for first time.  It was a pleasure to share with him good food and wine and he showed appreciation for every effort done in the arrangements to have his Iceland visits made as enjoyable as possible.

He will be sadly missed and remembered to all

With warmest thought and regards from Iceland and Denmark.

Hjördis, Erla, Agla and Sigurjón

Homily - Tony Lynch - Father Peter Murphy

I just met Tony a couple of times, just recently when he was in the hospital part of Summerset. He was naturally polite but quite definite that he didn´t want the sacraments of the Church which we offer to people. Sickness and old age are times when people particularly appreciate the comfort the sacraments bring. I suspect what was going on within him was the struggle between atheism and belief. That is in fact a universal struggle, particularly these days when the faith one received as a child is totally out of sync with what we know from the experience of life. However, there was no question about where he was to be buried from. It was to be from a Catholic Church; that was right and proper. He did strike me as being at peace with himself, which is so vital in one's final days. The rest is between him and his maker.

I am rather impatient with the modern conception of funerals as a celebration of the person. A celebration is when you have a few drinks and tell stories afterwards. A funeral, in our tradition, is praying for the deceased. I prayed for Tony at mass this morning. What happens after death is a mystery to us. Death is the moment of truth, where our whole life comes together. It just is what it is. It is not a time for judgement or regret, but a time of thanksgiving; a moment when we can let our lives go and head toward the light. That light is Christ. “I am going to prepare a place for you and when I return. “  This is a gospel that is universally loved for it speaks to where we are all at, that is no matter how vast our universe is, I have a special place in it. I am here for a purpose and discovering that purpose is a key part of my journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey, not the other way around.

The other side to this is the way we live. There is the Golden rule that is found not only in the Bible but in all the major religious traditions; “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” Our first reading read by Stella builds on this,

Prepare yourself for testing.

Is that your heart right and be steadfast,

and do not be impetuous in time of Calamity.

Except whatever befalls you,

and in times of humiliation be patient.

For gold is tested in the fire,

and is found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.

These are words of wisdom and wisdom is honored and valued universally. That too is a key part of our life journey: growing in wisdom. So it is with these thoughts that we commend Tony to God that he may be forgiven for any wrong he may have done and that you continue on his journey to the light.

Tony Lynch : Order of Service