Margaret A. “Peggy” Lynch 80, a longtime resident of Keene, NH, and a current resident of Westmoreland NH, passed away on Monday, May 18, 2020 at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, following a brief period of declining health.
Peggy was born at the Elliot Community Hospital in Keene on September 10, 1939 to her parents Margaret Ellen (Sweeney) and Robert Lester Mallat, Sr. She was joined at home by three older brothers, Bob, Larry and Dick. Peggy attended Saint Joseph School in Keene and graduated from Our Lady of Monadnock Academy in Jaffrey in 1957.
Following her graduation from high school, Peggy took a position at Peerless Insurance Company as a secretary where she met her husband, Bill Lynch. The couple married in 1961 and moved to Pittsburg, PA, Hartford, CT and Augusta, ME, before returning to Keene in 1968.
While raising four young children, Peggy pursued her college degree in History at Keene State College. Proudly, she graduated with her BA in 1979 and soon after graduating took a position as the assistant registrar at Keene State College, where she eventually took the position as registrar. During this time, Peggy was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives and became a leading democratic voice in the House until her departure in 1994. Her absence from an elected political position was short-lived as she served the community as a Keene City Counselor for several years. She also served the community as the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator for several years at the Cheshire Medical Center and then was an active volunteer until 2017.
Peggy was a sharp thinker, a straight talker, had a great sense of humor and loved a good laugh. She treasured time spent with family and friends and believed deeply in good governance and community involvement. Peggy lived her life with gusto and enjoyed embarking on all kinds of adventures both big and small. She also possessed a lovely sense of occasion, celebrating life's little triumphs with all those around her. Peggy was particularly rich in friends, many of whom she had known for decades, all of whom she treasured. She was a woman who was both tender and fierce, and the best role model her children could have hoped for.
She will be greatly missed by many, especially her children Kelly A. Lynch of New York, NY, Tracey M. Lynch Clason and her husband, Spencer of Westmoreland, NH, James P. Lynch and his wife Rosanne of Frankfort, Germany, Timothy W. Lynch, of Gypsum, CO; four grandchildren, Inez Mendez, Keagan Lynch, Emma Clason, Seth Clason; a brother, Lawrence A. Mallat; a sister-in-law, Marie Mallat, of Keene; and many nieces and nephews. Peggy was predeceased by her former husband and life long friend, Bill Lynch; two brothers, Richard Mallat and Robert Mallat; and two sisters-in-law, Norma Mallat and Joan Mallat.
A memorial mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 10:30am in St. Bernard Church, 185 Main Street, Keene. Msgr. Daniel O. Lamothe will celebrate the mass. Burial in St. Joseph Cemetery, Keene will take place privately with the family.
For those who wish, donations may be made in Peggy’s memory to St. Vincent dePaul, ℅ Parish of the Holy Spirit, 161 Main Street, Keene NH 03431; or to the Monadnock Humane Society, 101 West Swanzey Road, Swanzey NH 03446.
