Roll Call Tribute

Robert "Bob" Franklin Lynch
December 29, 1926 ~ March 1, 2022

Robert Franklin Lynch was born December 29, 1926, in Texarkana, TX, to Kathleen Walker and James Edward Lynch. He passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones on March 1, 2022, at the age of 95. The memorial service will be 2:00 P.M. Saturday, March 12, 2022, at First United Methodist Church, 500 S. Madison Ave., McGregor, Texas 76657, with Rev. Wayne Williams officiating. Military honors will be rendered for Col. U.S. Army Intelligence, Veteran Robert Lynch by the United States Army.

Bob grew up in Paris, Texas, where he had many childhood adventures. While in high school, Bob was elected to be a boy cheerleader for his class. His favorite childhood memories were the summers he spent traveling to state fairs watching his father Jimmie Lynch and his Death Dodgers perform auto thrill shows. Bob started participating in the death-defying stunt Burning Board Wall Crash when he got older.

Bob graduated from Paris High School in June of 1944 and left for A&M that same summer. Shortly after beginning college, he was drafted into the Army at the youthful age of 18. For his first official assignment, Bob was deployed to Nagasaki, Japan in November 1945, just months after the atomic bomb was dropped during WWII. He graduated from A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry and a minor in agronomy in May of 1950.

After they were set up on a blind date, Bob married the love of his life, Wilma Margarette Holdbrook, on September 11, 1950, in an intimate ceremony surrounded by family at Wilma’s parents’ home in McGregor. Shortly after, the Army called Bob back into active duty to help with the induction cycle during the Korean war. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and sent to the Recruiting and Induction Main station in Oklahoma City, where he supervised the induction of the draftees. While in Oklahoma, Bob and Wilma’s first daughter, Carol, was born on November 8, 1951. In 1956, they moved to Sherman, TX, where Bob worked as an assistant county agent. On October 4, 1956, Bob and Wilma welcomed their second daughter Nancy. Two years later, he was promoted to county agent for Wellington, TX. In 1962, the family moved back to McGregor, where Bob managed 30 men and the operation of 10,000 acres at the Texas A&M Agricultural Experiment Station.

Bob retired from the state in 1982 and the Army in 1986. He served 41 years in the Army Reserves working his way up the ranks to Colonel. He held many jobs during his service but was most proud of his time in the Army Military Intelligence Unit. After retirement, he operated his father-in-law's car wash and owned 2 of his own. He also began preparing income tax, which he continued to do until just a few years ago.

In May of 1998, Bob and Wilma moved to Sun City Georgetown. They lived their best life playing golf, watching over their grandchildren, refurbishing antique furniture, traveling the world, writing, and publishing their life stories. They were members of the Hill Country Writers Club and Wellspring United Methodist Church in Georgetown, TX.

On September 11, 2021, Bob and Wilma celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary at the home of their daughter Nancy with their family. Bob and Wilma were blessed to have such wonderful care from their family and caregivers, Stephanie Clary, Toni Hirst, and Virginia Johnson. Bob enjoyed playing Gin Rummy with Nancy in the evenings, and he even let her win a few times. He lived an incredible life and had many accomplishments, but he was most proud of his family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Kathleen and James Lynch, brother Jimmie and sister-in-law Betty Lynch, nieces Kathie Lynch Jewell, and Karen Lynch Lodes. He is survived by Wilma, his wife of 71 ½ years, and his daughters Carol Lynch Conley, Nancy Lynch, and Traci Knipp and great-niece Blythe Jewell. He was blessed with five grandchildren, Sunne and Curtis Dickey, Joshua Hardie, Tyler and Amy Hardie, Katie and Kymber Conley and seven great-grandchildren Cydney, Paige, and Autumn Dickey, Kolton Northcutt, Kasten Broumley, Kamdin Govensky, and Hazel Hardie.

In lieu of flowers you may make a donation in Bob’s memory to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or the Bereavement Committee of First United Methodist Church of McGregor % Barbara Turner, 3301 Old Caufield Ranch Road, McGregor, Texas 76657.