Lynn Thornton Irish

Lynn Thornton Irish of Vancouver, Washington, passed away at 103 years old. He was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, the first child of Marion and Ethel Irish. After graduating high school in 1934 and receiving a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State College in 1938, Lynn secured employment with the General Electric laboratory in Pittsfield, MA. It was here that he met and fell in love with a young woman named Pauline Macdonald. In 1940, with the winds of war approaching, Lynn joined the Army Air Corps, was trained as a meteorologist, and subsequently assigned to Gander, Newfoundland forecasting the weather for flights making the "hop across the pond" to England. Although they originally planned a wedding for the summer of 1942, a sudden, short leave afforded Lynn the opportunity to return to Pittsfield where he and Polly were married on November 6, 1941. During a 21-year military career, Lynn served numerous assignments taking him from Canada and northern Maine to Alabama to Tokyo, Japan to southern California and finally Illinois. He was entrusted with command positions at headquarters Air Weather Service in Washington, D.C. and as Commanding Officer 8th Weather Squadron. Lynn retired from active duty in 1962 but continued to share his expertise in meteorology through a professorship in the geophysics department at St. Louis University until 1969. Following retirement, Lynn and Polly traveled extensively throughout the western U.S. volunteering for the National Park Service. They eventually settled in the Pacific Northwest with residences in Vancouver, WA. Throughout his 103 years of life, Lynn always loved being outdoors either gardening or especially hiking along mountain streams and lake shores casting his fishing line into the waters enticing trout to bite. Lynn was preceded in death by Polly, his wife of 75 years; his sister, Ruth Boothroyd; and great-grandson, Brady Thomson. He is survived by his sister, Sheila Rychnovsky (Ray) of Pleasanton, CA; daughter, Sandy Buchmiller of Highland, IL; son, Larry Irish (Sue) of Vancouver, WA; four grandchildren, Jeff Buchmiller (Lynn) of Celina, TX, Dawn Thomson (Bill) of New Lenox, IL, Shantel Liberatore (Tony) of Vancouver, WA, Heather Collins (Shawn) of Kalama, WA; and ten great-grandchilren, Phoenix and Dylan Buchmiller, Jared and Brent Thomson, Sophia, Ariana, and Lucas Liberatore, Kyle Irish, Payton and Kendal Collins. Heartfelt thanks go to Highgate Senior Living and to PeaceHealth Hospice Southwest of Vancouver, WA.

Lynn Thornton Irish

September 20, 1916 - February 27, 2020