Over this past week, people have shared their memories of Stanley Steven Lynch, a city native and champion supporter of all good things in Burbank.
Family and friends celebrated his life Wednesday during his funeral service in the Old North Church at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. With its historic ties to Paul Revere’s ride, what better place to hold a service for Stan, a well-known history buff.
Robert M. Bock of the First Christian Church of North Hollywood, where Stan was a member, noted that once you touch the soul of another person, you will never be separated from them.
Stan’s son Steven called him “Dr. Dad” and the “smartest man in the universe”. And whenever Steven would get in the car with his dad, Stan would point out places where things happened in town.
“He had a story about everything!” Steven said.
Stan supported Steven while he was in the marching band at Burroughs, and also when he took photography classes.
Granddaughter Madison, all of 7 years, grasped her speech and addressed the crowd with confidence. She delivered it proudly without tears. At the end of it, her hope, she said, was that her tiny sister would remember how wonderful Grandpa was.
High school buddies Dave L. Johnson and Darryl Eisele stood together at the podium. Johnson recalled how, back in high school, he and Stan would get the algebra teacher to start talking about horse racing and he wouldn’t stop until the dismissal bell rang.
Stan also introduced Jodi Gable, Burbank High School Class of ’65, to the Beach Boys after a dance at Olive Rec., and she became their fan club president, Johnson said.
Bill Stevens, his best friend, met Stan at Burroughs. They shared the love of journalism. Stan worked at the Daily Review and worked at the Sunland Tujunga Record Ledger. They often would hang out at Bob’s carhop area, ordering a soda and french fries. When a call would come over their police radio, they’d ask the carhop to hang on to their food until they returned from the call.
In the 1980s the two served as each other’s best man at their weddings. Bill recalled that Stan and a group of friends showed up at the honeymoon site, and getting the bride and groom to come down to the lobby, serenaded them with kazoos. Upon returning to their hotel room, the couple found it filled with balloons and their bed covers concealed an alarm that took several minutes to find and dislodge the pin.
Longtime friend Ross Benson called Stan the ultimate news person.
“If you wanted to know a stat or fact about Burbank, you’d call Stan,” Benson said.
Some 40 years ago, Benson and Stan started the Neighborhood Radio Watch. They also volunteered with the Burbank Tournament of Roses and helped to get the float from Burbank to Pasadena. In recent years, Stan would volunteer giving tours of the floats being decorated in Pasadena the two weeks prior to the parade. And like clockwork, Stan would come down with a cold, spending long hours in the freezing tents that housed the floats.
Benson remembered Stan’s quirks — always adding six teaspoons of sugar to his iced tea, and sharing advice — always carry a pad of paper and pen.
He was the ultimate obituary writer. He could capture the person’s best qualities and relate them with finesse. He was also a great editor and a stickler for correcting journalistic style in his colleagues’ news stories.
Each time he would sit down to write a story, Benson would always say “‘How would Stan write this?’ ”
“And tomorrow, I will say the same thing,” Benson said.
A few days prior to the funeral service, former Burbank Leader managing editor Paul Hubler and former Burroughs photography teacher Tim Brehm offered their memories of Lynch.
Hubler served as managing editor during the mid-1990s and hired Lynch as an opinion page columnist after he submitted several letters to the editor. Hubler remembered that Lynch was a provocative columnist, who challenged the prevailing ethos of the community at a time when neighborhood groups were seeking to limit growth in the city.
“While many readers disagreed with Stan’s positions on movie studio and airport growth, Stan was a committed lifelong resident and I think all shared his core goal of building a better
Burbank,” Hubler said.
Lynch also had been a substitute teacher for decades, Brehm said. During the teacher’s strike in 1980, the teacher’s were out walking the line for a number of weeks.
“I needed someone we could trust to guard the photo equipment and Stan did a wonderful job,” Brehm said. “He was very reliable and a benefit to the program.”
Lynch always had an eclectic mix of things going on in his life. In addition to his journalistic side, he was always involved in business ventures like making the lapel buttons.
But most of all, Brehm said, “He was a true citizen of Burbank. He was always writing about a cause, and I always admired him for that.”
Donations can be made to BCR Burbank Center For The Retarded ‘a place to grow’ 230 E. Amherst Drive, Burbank, Ca. 91504 in Stan Lynch name.