Mary Ann Lynch

Our kind, patient and loving mother returned to the arms of her Father and Creator on March 8th, 2022. From the time of her birth in the family farmhouse near Sibley, Iowa to her peaceful passing in her family home in Austin, Texas, she walked with God and with love.

Mary Ann was born to Albert and Helen Tremmel, the third of their five children. A dedication to the Catholic faith was a central part of her family life. It was her love of school and the Franciscan Sisters that taught there that made her decide to leave the farm at age 17 to join their convent and become a teacher.

The farm lifestyle of rising before the sun to do chores prepared Mary Ann for the Franciscan’s lifestyle of rising before the sun for prayer. While in the convent, Mary Ann earned an Iowa teaching certificate. She began her 40-year teaching career in Petersburg, Iowa in August 1960 at age 20. Her first classroom consisted of 48 first and second graders. She was also the church organist, the choir director and taught music to the third through eighth grade classrooms.

Mary Ann spent the first 26 years of her life in the lush farmlands of Iowa. The village of Petersburg (population 99) was not even big enough to be considered a town. In the summer of 1966, Mary Ann was assigned by the Church to teach 3rd grade at the Corpus Christi School in inner city Chicago. None of her experiences prepared her for the southside of Chicago. During her time there, she continued to teach elementary school children and also became involved in the civil rights movement. She worked with Jesse Jackson on Operation Breadbasket and even marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As society changed, the Church changed so Mary Ann left the convent and moved to Austin, Texas to be near her older brother Ben and the University of Texas. She got a job at UT and met, James Lynch, a divorced Episcopalian with two sons. She and Jim were married in November of 1971. In 1973 she obtained a Masters of Education with endorsement as teacher of the emotionally disturbed. She got her first job in special education at Campbell Elementary.

After 15 years of teaching and 5 years of marriage, Mary Ann and Jim, who were now living in Temple, Texas, had a baby daughter, Christina. Nearly two years later, a son, Benjamin was born. Mary Ann stayed home with her children but still taught adult GED classes two days a week.

In 1981, the family moved to Waverly, Iowa to be closer to Mary Ann’s family. She continued to stay home raising her children and also stayed very busy as the director of religious education and organist at their parish.

In 1987, the family moved to El Paso, Texas where Mary Ann and Jim worked as volunteers for the Diocese of El Paso for a year, teaching English to recent immigrants. After that, both she and Jim were hired as teachers at Assumption, a parochial school in the diocese. Eventually, Mary Ann started teaching early childhood special education at a public elementary school.

In 1993, the family moved back to Austin and both Mary Ann and Jim taught in area public schools until their joint retirement in 2003. During that 10-year period she co-wrote a workbook for students with dyslexia and co-authored the application that resulted in Baty Elementary winning a National Blue Ribbon School award, an honor which earned her a trip to Washington DC to meet First Lady Laura Bush.

During retirement, Mary Ann stayed very busy with her grandchildren. She was a gentle, supportive presence in each of their lives. She was especially instrumental in helping her grandchildren learn to be good readers. Her grandchildren will surely miss all the stories, songs, and games of chinese checkers.

Mary Ann is preceded in death by her parents and husband, Jim. She is survived by her brothers Ben Tremmel and Tony Tremmel, sisters Therese Tremmel and Agnes Pouy, daughter Christina Morel and husband Rob, son Ben Lynch, stepson Jim Lynch and wife Stephanie (and daughter Zoe), stepson Terry Lynch, and her grandchildren Cecilia Machuca and husband Julian, Marie-Helene, Robert Jr., Joseph, Caroline, and great-granddaughter Delaney.