The question, really, is where the next generation of giants will come from.
When Ed Lynch died recently at the age of 94, The Columbian editorially eulogized him as a giant of the community. After all, he had donated millions of dollars over the years to various causes. He had earned the honor of having his name attached to numerous projects throughout the city. He had worked tirelessly to improve the community — simply because it was his home. As his son, Michael, was quoted as saying, “He hopes his life was an example for people to help others as they were able. … He wants his actions remembered, and people to make their home a better place.”
In short, Lynch — along with his wife, Dollie, who died in 2010 — was the kind of person who left his footprint on a community. Unfortunately for the rest of us, there aren’t many of those left.
You see, as The Columbian wrote in reporting news of Lynch’s death: “The Lynches were part of a generation of local residents who made fortunes in business, then spent their retirement spending their money for the betterment of the community. Others in that group included banker E.W. ‘Ed’ Firstenburg, restaurateur George Propstra, and barge line owner Ray Hickey.”
If you don’t know those names, then you haven’t spent much time driving around town. Plenty of buildings and parks and community centers are emblazoned with them.
