1947-2021 • Enterprise

Pat Lynn, 73, of Enterprise, died Feb. 21.

Pat was born April 3, 1947, in Texarkana, Texas, to Benjamin James and Beatrice Merle (Ward) Lynn. He attended Compton High School in California until he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at the age of 17. He attended boot camp in Chicago and was then stationed at March Air Force Base in California.

Pat was involved in a tragic car accident in 1966 when he was only 19 in Riverside, California, suffering serious burns on more than half of his body. Over the next few years he was hospitalized in Fort Sam Houston and Lackland, Texas, and then to California.

Pat later moved to Paramount, California, where he then married a former classmate from Compton, Peggy Shingleton. Their daughter, Tracy Lynn, was born Oct. 7, 1968. Pat and Peggy divorced a few years later but remained close friends and coparents until Peggy’s death in 2014.

In 1979 Pat married Lori Nickell. They lived in Sacramento, California, with their daughters, Tracy and Mandy, and sons, Sean, Michael and Patrick, until the family relocated to Wallowa County in 1985. Pat and Lori were married for 16 years.

Pat enjoyed golfing, storytelling, 1950s music and watching his grandchildren play sports, perform in plays and music programs. He loved his family dearly and especially loved attending birthday parties, holiday parties and family barbecues.

Pat volunteered for Meals on Wheels and coached boys Little League for several years. He was known to many people as the “sweetest man in the world.” He was kind and offered his wisdom to anyone who asked for it. He will be missed by all who love him, but he has left behind precious memories, funny antics and a knowledge that if he liked you, he loved you.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Beatrice Merle Ward; father, Benjamin James Lynn; stepfather, Lino Montoya; daughter, Tracy Lynn; brother, Denver Arnold; and sisters, Carolynn Trujillo and Joanne Gallegly.