Hildegarde Lynn

Hildegarde Lynn, age 98, passed away on January 25, 2022. I first met Hildegarde when I was only age seven--over sixty years ago. My family—then consisting of my father, Roland; mother, Leona; two younger sisters, Carla and Leona; and brother, Carter, had just moved from Woodstock, Vermont to New York City. We lived then in the same building as the Lynns, at 257 West 86th Street in Manhattan.

Our parents shared similar interests in the arts, literature and music, and became good friends. Peter Lynn, a psychoanalyst, had obtained his doctorate at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and studied with the renowned C.G. Jung. Peter helped found the C. G. Jung Institute in New York City and became the Dean of Training—a position he held for twenty years. He also continued to have a private practice in Jungian analysis until shortly before his death, in October 2012, at the age of 93.

When I first knew Hildegarde--then in her early 30’s--I remember her as a tall, strikingly good-looking woman with a shapely figure, blonde hair and large blue eyes. She and my father shared a passion for classical music, and I remember watching them playing four-handed piano together, seated side-by-side on the piano stool in our apartment. Hildegarde and my mother also became good friends and attended together a weekly body awareness therapy group run by Anita Greene, a Jungian analyst. Hildegarde’s interest in integrating the body and the somatic dimension into her work influenced her decision to enter training as a massage therapist, and she later became a licensed practitioner.

In the meantime, my sisters and I became friends with Hildegarde’s only child, a daughter, Roxane, nick-named Roxy, who was three years younger than I—the age of my youngest sister, Leona. Roxy was a beautiful, highly intelligent, sensitive and empathic child. Our families celebrated the milestones of each others’ lives together and visited each others’ summer homes. For a few years, the Lynns had a beloved, white clapboard house in Poultney, Vermont, to which we were invited. They also visited our country home in Shandaken, New York, on several occasions. We were close enough that the two sets of parents agreed that Peter and Hildegarde would become our godparents while my parents would become Roxy’s godparents. I considered Roxy one of my best friends; and we remained close until her premature death in 1999, at the age of 48.

Life inevitably buffets all of us, and Hildegarde lived long enough to suffer the loss of those she loved most—her father; mother; daughter; sister Martha--nicknamed Martie--who also lived in New York City; her husband Peter; her brother Werner; and, only a few months ago, her beloved younger brother Rudy, who lived in Amsterdam. While she felt the losses deeply—particularly the death of Roxy--Hildegarde also possessed a survivor’s strength, resilience and resourcefulness. She had lived through World War II, uprooted herself from the family of origin and homeland she loved, married Peter in Berlin in 1947, then emigrated to the States with him in 1948. Having given up so much, Hildegarde also knew how to make the most of what she did have, how to endure despite heartache and suffering.

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When I think of Hildegarde, I will remember her strength and resilience, her grace under fire—especially during the last years of her life, following the two strokes that immobilized her. I will remember a vivacious, multi-lingual, sophisticated woman with a zest for life and culture, who loved traveling, painting, playing the piano, attending classical concerts, ballet, theater and opera, and skating at Rockefeller Center. I will remember a lovely woman, easy on the eyes, with exquisite taste in clothes, colors and fabrics. Her homes were always beautifully decorated, and Hildegarde surrounded herself and those she loved with beautiful objects. I will remember her as a generous, gracious hostess and a devoted friend who inspired love and devotion in the friends and companions who cared for her during her declining years. May Hildegarde rest in peace and her memory live on in our hearts and minds. She was loved dearly and will be missed!

Caroline Van Zandt

New York City

February 4, 2022

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.riversidememorialchapel.com for the Lynn family.