Cynthia Birdell Buchanan Lynch

Cynthia spent 0ver 100 years with us. November 22nd would have begun her 101st year. Recently when discussing the planning for her 100th birthday party, she quipped that it would be much easier to have the party and funeral together. It seems Cynthia managed to arrange it that way after all.

She was born November 22, 1922 in Seneca, South Carolina to Bowen Franklin Buchanan and Annie Bell Underwood. One of eight siblings (5 brothers and 3 sisters) on the family farm, she helped in the fields and was picking cotton and doing chores once she was walking. She really did walk three miles to the bus stop rain or shine unless someone was going that way with a wagon.

Finishing high school as the world was preparing for WWII, her aunt, Elizabeth Buchanan suggested she move to Washington DC. Working for the US Government, she met and married Travis Lynch on August 2, 1947. Travis’s FBI career took them to Atlanta, GA where she had her first son, Douglas, in 1949, then on to Chicago, IL and Wilmington, DE where Jeffrey joined the family in 1951. Subsequently, they moved to Dover, DE where they stayed until 1962. While there, Cynthia in addition to being a full-time mother was also the church secretary for the First Baptist Church. By 1963, the family was anchored in Macon, GA where Travis was the Senior Agent in Charge of the FBI office and Cynthia worked for the US Attorney’s office. Cynthia and Travis were active members of Ingleside Baptist Church where she met her best friend, Betty Wall.

Cynthia loved art and painting. In the early 1980s, she enrolled at Wesleyan College wanting to learn more and in 1987 she was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the age of 65. She continued as an avid painter and artist within the Macon art community. Her preferred medium was oil or watercolor and she created more than 1000 paintings. She sold some of her work, gave friends some and continued as an active artist painting until her eyesight began failing in the mid 1990’s.

Cynthia and Travis enjoyed traveling, visiting Hawaii, western US and the UK. Following Travis’s death in 2006, She continued as an active member of the community and church. In 2017 for her 95th birthday, Doug and Cynthia made a trip to Europe visiting her Grandson Adam (dec 2020) and his family in Luxembourg and her granddaughter Dawn and her family in Zurich. Cynthia took that opportunity to visit the Louve in Paris getting a close look at the Mona Lisa painting; the Versailles art collection; and the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The grand tour included the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens, the Delft factory in Delft Netherlands, with stops in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France and Switzerland. In Switzerland she went to the top of Mount Pilatus.

Relocating to The Cottages on Wesleyan, in late 2017, Cynthia was actively involved in the community. She was still helping prepare bulletins for Ingleside Baptist services. Cynthia was a member of the Macon Exchangettes club and regularly attended luncheons. She was a very competitive card & bingo player and even with the vision loss won at Corn Hole Bean Bag Toss.

In addition to her closest friends: Betty Wall and Cathy O’Dillon; Cynthia is survived by her sons, Douglas B Lynch and his wife, Christine, of Port Orange, FL and Jeffery T. Lynch and his wife, Nancy, of Newnan, GA.; 7 Grandchildren (Dayle, Dawn, Wendy, Amy, Emily, Ashley and David; and 12 Great Grand Children.

Cynthia requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in her name to Ingleside Baptist Church.

A Celebration of her life will be held at Ingleside Baptist Church on Saturday, November 19, 2022. Visitation at 1PM followed by a short service at 2 PM. A family Interment will follow at Macon Memorial Park Cemetery.

Snow’s Memorial Chapel, 1419 Bass Road is handling arrangements.