Lynne was one of the first people I worked with when I joined the City of Austin in 2010. It was extremely refreshing having someone so knowledgeable and understanding to mentor from. She was direct and blunt sharing her insights which I greatly appreciated. I've never enjoyed having to spend 30 minutes chatting before getting to the point. We were always able to discuss business quickly and then just chat about life. I also respected her ability to establish boundaries to her work and personal life. Not many people at the City were doing that when I joined, and she showed just b/c you were in communications didn't mean you were monitoring everything 24/7. She was good at bringing folks together and finding a common path forward out of difficult situations. Aside from that, I just miss ya Lynne. The City isn't the same without you.

Dear Xavier and Lightsey family...my most sincere condolences on Lynne's passing....she will be missed...by the Angon family as well...RIP LYNNE💜💗✝️💗💜

Women in Rotary multi-club project... Lynne was always loved a good work day project but this was a special one celebrating 30 years of Women in Rotary. 

She was one of the first women invited to Join Rotary and the second woman member of the South Austin Rotary Club. She held many leadership roles throughout the years, including two terms as Club President. At the district level she served as Alumni Committee co-chair, working with in-bound Ambassadorial Scholars; as a member of the Ambassadorial Scholar Committee and, finally, as the first female chair of that committee. She was also the first female Group Study Exchange Team Leader for our district and led a group of non-Rotarians to eastern Australia. 

Lynne, overseeing the installation of her Club Board as President of the South Austin Rotary Club. - July 2018

Our friend and fellow Rotarian Lynne.  You are so very missed and your legacy of service to others lives on in the countless women that you inspired to lead through service. 

I met Lynne over 40 years ago at the City of Austin. We became the best of friends.  Lynne was a good union member.  I remember way back when Lynne made the decision to stand up for equal pay.  It was a difficult decision, but she said someone has to do it.  She won that case!  Lynne always supported her union and her rotary club. It was always fun to see her and catch up.  I would always tell her she was an old lady because her birthday was several months from mine. I always remembered her birthday and now I will always remember her passing as it is one day after my birthday. I miss you, Lynne your friend Carol Guthrie

Lynne was a great friend and mentor to me and I miss her desperately. I met Lynne about 20 years ago when I joined IABC Austin (International Association of Business Communicators). She saw something in me & quickly took me under her wing. I joined IABC Austin, then applied for a job at The City of Austin, where Lynne worked for something like 37(!) years. Without her guidance, support and recommendation, I may not have ended up with the career I’ve built at the City. I’ve now been there 16 years and Lynne was always there to lend advice, let me vent and most of all, just to be my friend.

She did it quietly, in her own special way, but Lynne always found a way to lift people up and support them. And she was not shy about telling you if she didn’t agree with something. I loved that about her. I knew I was getting an honest opinion.  

Lynne was one special lady. And I was lucky to know her. Rest In Peace, dear friend. Prayers to Xavier & her family. 

Xavi is a special man and brother-in-law who Lynne loved so much! 

Lynne’s visits were always the perfect reason to gather for a great meal!

Lynne was a fun loving and wonderful sister who treated our children like her own. She shared her love and respect of the ocean and spent countless hours body surfing and swimming with them. Family was her priority; she always made everyone feel loved and valued. There will always be a hole in my life that only Lynne could fill. 

Obituary appearing in the Daytona Beach News Journal
https://www.news-journalonline.com/obituaries/pdtb0123703

      Lynne Shepard Lightsey was born April 5, 1955. A native Floridian, Lynne grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, the eldest child of Tom and Carolyn Lightsey.  She attended Merricourt, Riverview Elementary, and Seabreeze Junior and Senior High Schools, from which she graduated in 1973,  a proud member of the Fighting Sandcrab Marching Band and a Majorette.  In the fashion of the time, she rebelled against her Gator lineage, and chose to attend the University of Georgia, where she was a Georgette, graduating with honors in 1977.  She then moved to Austin, Texas to earn her Master of Arts in Latin American Studies at the University of Texas, afterward, spending a year in Brazil studying as a Rotary Ambassador Scholar.  Lynne met her loving husband, Xavier Angon, in Austin, where they settled.  She worked for the City of Austin Environmental and Conservation Services Department, retiring in 2019.   She was a longtime member and former president of the South Austin Rotary Club, where she was honored to serve as a liaison to sister Rotary clubs in Australia.
     Lynne loved dogs, dancing, and the ocean. Any dog in her care ended up with a life full of treats, walks, and snuggles. She never passed up an opportunity to dance even if it was from her chair at the dinner table. Despite her conversion from Floridian to Texan, Lynne returned to Florida regularly to visit family and the beach, where many a lifeguard had to whistle her in as she swam out past the sandbar. Lynne never missed a birthday and always sent the best birthday and holiday cards.
    She died in her home in Austin, Texas on December 13, 2021 at the age of 66. She is survived by her husband, siblings, nieces, nephews, many friends and colleagues. Her service will be held in Austin, Texas.



Lynne's visit to Indian Rocks Beach, June 25, 2015

Lynne and Tommy making their way to the beach umbrella.

Lynne's favorite place, St. Augustine Beach, on May 20, 2021, with Tommy, Javier and Maya.

We had many wonderful memories of Lynne visiting us in Indian Rocks Beach.

On the outside Lynne was a gorgeous tall blond and, on the inside, she was resilient, smart, and loving. She was elegant, sophisticated, fun-loving, and was the star of our annual Carnaval extravaganzas. 

Lynne and I became friends while attending graduate school in Austin in the 1970s. She was one of the first twenty-somethings I knew who drank scotch, sometimes while reading these ridiculously long historical novels. After I moved away from Austin, she and I met in Rio de Janeiro in 1985 for a memorable trip.  Since she had lived there, she was the expert on going to the beach and avoiding crime, buying gemstones, and dancing on Copacabana Beach on New Year’s Eve. 

Through the years we visited occasionally and kept in touch by letters, phone calls, emails, and recently by text.  

Her nature was to share –ideas, advice, a place to stay, a meal, a helping hand, a venue for a party. I will always remember her generous nature, her adaptability and determination, especially when things got tough, her high standards, her intelligence, and her wit.  You could always count on her to say something both insightful and funny. 

I thought we had a little more time and I’d get to see Lynne again in the new year. Instead, I am grieving but looking forward to dancing with her in Heaven someday. 


With love always. Missing you! 
Sheila Simons and Martha Vincent aka Lucy & Ethel (we still haven’t figured out which one of us is who) Thanks to Lynne!

I wish that I had photos of Lynne with all of her beloved canines, but this is the only one I could find. They were well cared for and well loved, as were we all.  

Mike Cavanagh, Xavi, and Lynne with Alex and Emily

Finally we get to Lynne and Xavier. I believe that this was taken before they were married.

I think that this was taken at Marie and Mike's wedding in 1989, although I could be mistaken. We attended a lot of weddings over the years!  

I love this photo of Lynne: she is so elegant, refined, smiling, and engaged.

 I think this was taken at the Salt Lick: we obviously spent a lot of time enjoying a good meal. 

The four of us spent many evenings together during graduate school. This could have been any night of the week.  

We attended Austin's Brazilian Carnival every year, but this year was epic. We called our samba troop "Los Weiners." Don't ask.

I have known Lynne for more than 40 years, and my grief is deep. Lacking the words to express what her friendship meant to me, I would like to share some photos of our years together. 

I don't remember exactly when I met Lynne. It was probably as cordial co-workers highlighted by polite small talk in the hallway or break room. Little did I know at the time that she would eventually become my boss, mentor, and most of all, my friend. 

Lynne was always quick to lend an ear, offer advise, and provide guidance. She also had a very sharp wit and keen eye for what was good, very good, and even not so good. She never settled for just good, always strived for very good, and wouldn't tolerate not so good.

I remember how much she loved traveling and collecting merchandise for her flea market booth. Lynne would always bring back something for us and I still have several of those gifts strategically placed in my office. My favorite is a brightly colored parrot sitting in a hoop that has been in every office I've had for almost 20 years. 

I'll miss Lynne dearly, but will always remember her fondly and be forever thankful for the enormous impact she had on my career and my life.

I met Lynne in the mid-80s when she was assigned to be part of my staff.  It was a rocky beginning, but it balanced, and we became friends with respect for our individual talents.  

She was an editor and writer with extraordinary talent.  She helped shape the energy conservation and renewable resource policies for Austin. She was a woman that loved her husband, family, friends, and public service. 

In his book 47, Walter Mosely wrote, "No atom or electron ceases to exist, they only change from one thing to another.  And no life ever ends but itself  transforms into other forms and places."

When my mother passed, we opened the windows in the room. The purpose, to let her spirit rise and flow freely into the universe.  It is a custom of many people.  

I like to think Lynne and the others left their earthly bodies through those open windows and became part of everything in God's universe. The work we accept and acknowledge as true and the continuing work we won't understand until we become a part of.

I believe she became the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. She became the personification of Grace.  I will miss her presence but smile and celebrate because she was here for me to know.  

Blessings and peace to Xavier, her family, and friends.


It takes only one person to believe in you and in 1993, Lynne was that person. I had recently moved to Austin and lacked a professional network. Lynne took a chance on me and  became my boss, the best editor any writer could hope for and a dear friend. I worked with Lynne for about a year but she became a friend for life. I will miss our lunches, our laughter, her whip smart mind and her kindness. My heart and condolences go out to her beloved Javier and her entire family.  Lynne will be forever missed. 

Lynne was an exquisitely bright light to me as a professional colleague, mentor, and friend. I'll never forget her quips (especially in Emmitsville with Carole Barasch), fondness for oysters, love for pooches, and adoration of Xavier. Ed and I will miss her. Wish we could find the standing pose he took of her for the IABC Austin website.

OBITUARY

Lynne S. Lightsey

April 5, 1955 – December 13, 2021

Cook-Walden Funeral Home

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