Anne Melissa Lynch; Voted 1979 Woman of the Year

Anne Melissa Lynch, co-owner of a lumber company who was voted Woman of the Year by the Santa Clarita Valley and Canyon Country chambers of commerce in 1979, has died at her Canyon Country home. She was 87.

Mrs. Lynch died Thursday of natural causes, said her son, Kevin.

Born Anne Melissa Knoblock on Oct. 16, 1902, on a ranch in Stoner, Colo., she moved to California in the early 1920s. She worked in the credit department of various firms including the Union Oil Co., the George Patten Lumber Co. and the Patten-Blinn Lumber Co.

She married Kenneth G. Lynch in 1944 and they opened the Lynch Lumber Co. in Burbank. She managed the office and handled bookkeeping. The business was later moved to Pacoima, where it was destroyed by arson in 1955. The following year, it was moved to Canyon Country and the couple continued to operate it until their retirement in 1968.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Mrs. Lynch was active in the Republican Women’s Club, Zonta International and the Soroptimist Club in the Santa Clarita Valley. She also served as president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs in Newhall-Saugus in 1963-64 and was on the board of directors of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., Joshua Tree Council.

Her husband died in July. In addition to her son, Kevin of Canyon Country; she is survived by a daughter, Brenda Lynch of Seattle; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation is planned from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Eternal Valley Mortuary, 23287 N. Sierra Highway, which is handling the arrangements. A funeral is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Chapel of the Oaks at Eternal Valley Mortuary, with burial to follow at Eternal Valley Memorial Park.