Known as “Mama MUST,” Edna Inez Lynch was considered the heart and soul of MUST Ministries.
For the past eight years, she was a dedicated volunteer who was particularly passionate about helping homeless and disabled veterans, family and friends said.
Her zeal, commitment and work ethic inspired ministry staff and other volunteers at the Marietta outreach organization. She also was the only MUST volunteer with her own set of business cards.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had the title of CEO, but that she was really the CEO,” said the Rev. Ike Reighard, MUST Ministries president and CEO. “She was the spark plug who kept us all on our toes in serving our clients. She was a joyous presence who exuded enthusiasm in working to make life better for others. She truly will be missed.”
Lynch died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on Nov. 4 at her Kennesaw home. She was 87. Her funeral was Nov. 14 at New Beginnings United Methodist Church in Kennesaw.
Born on June 1, 1928, in Harrodsburg, Ky., Lynch came from humble beginnings and learned early on the importance of hard work and compassion for others.
She later moved to Louisville, Ky., where she began her career as a secretary. In the mid-1980s she found her niche when she was hired as the property manager at a Louisville mobile home park, a job she held more than 20 years.
Working in the 300-unit community, where many families struggled to make ends meet, stoked her heart for helping others, said her son Davis Watkins of Kennesaw.
Locals began calling her the mayor of the mobile home park. Each year, she organized an Angel Tree campaign for residents, arranged for food baskets, held clothing drives and collected toys for the children at Christmas.
“She loved that job because she got to do what she always loved and that was helping others,” Watkins said. “Mom knew everybody in the community and knew their needs and cared about them. She was not going to stand for a family not having food at Thanksgiving or a child not having a gift at Christmas.”
After retiring in 2004, she moved to Kennesaw, where volunteerism soon became a family affair.
Each Thanksgiving and Christmas, Lynch joined Watkins, his wife Wendy and their son Connor in the MUST dining hall, where she greeted guests while they helped serve meals to people in need.
Each week, she showed up at the ministry offices to answer phones, stuff envelopes and motivate employees and volunteers to keep up their good work.
With the help of her family, she adopted men and women in the MUST veterans housing program. She and daughter-in-law Wendy shopped, hosted birthday and holiday celebrations and raised funds for gift cards and annual Golden Corral dinners for the veterans.
At her church, Lynch promoted MUST, seeking donations for veterans and volunteers for the children’s summer lunch program.
She also led her church’s “prayer critter” ministry, in which she gathered stuffed animals for the congregation to pray over before hand delivering or sending them to the sick, bereaved families and anyone going through a tough time.
“She had a passion for people. She also had a great sense of humor,” said the Rev. Scott Brown, pastor at New Beginnings. “We still get calls from people who received a prayer critter. She had a really amazing way of reaching people who were lost in life for whatever reason.”
About two weeks before her death, Lynch was still busy working for MUST and her church.
From her hospice bed, she attached notes to mini pumpkins inviting people to church and stuffed envelopes and made phone calls for MUST Ministries’ largest annual fundraiser, the Gobble Jog on Thanksgiving Day.
Her son Doug Lynch, an avid runner, will travel from Louisville to run in the Gobble Jog in her memory. Watkins and his wife plan to continue her work with veterans at MUST.
“She told me, ‘Scott, I can’t die. I’ve got too much to do.’ That’s why she fought so hard to overcome all she was going through,” Brown said. “She had that kind of commitment.”
In addition to her sons Davis and Doug, Lynch is survived by daughter Shirley Longhenry of Raymond, N.H.; four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.
About the Author
