Lynn McClive Farnsworth

Lynn McClive Farnsworth was born on October 12, 1947, in Buffalo, New York, to Douglas McClive Sr. and Lynette McClive. The eldest of four children, Lynn set the tone for a family legacy marked by intelligence, wit, humor, and independent thinking. From an early age she demonstrated a sharp mind and vibrant spirit—excelling academically, earning a perfect score on her math SATs, playing musical instruments, participating in sports, and engaging actively in her church community.

Graduating high school in the 1960s, Lynn was encouraged to follow one of the few conventional paths then offered to accomplished young women. Instead, she blazed her own trail, enrolling at St. John’s College and its Great Books program to pursue a rigorous liberal arts education. She lived and studied on both the Annapolis and Santa Fe campuses, cultivating a lifelong love of learning, inquiry, and the search for truth.

While at St. John’s, Lynn discovered the Bahá’í Faith, a progressive and revolutionary religion that required independent investigation of truth, provided a mystical understanding of reality, demanded justice for the systemically marginalized based on the oneness of all humans, and created a framework for building a just civilization which deeply resonated with her. She was in love with Jesus Christ and in finding this new complementary religion and reading one of its seminal books by Baha’u’llah, its founder, she felt the truth of the words as coming from the same source and prayed to Jesus to guide her. He did and she embraced this Faith that became the central guiding force of her life and her service.

After college, Lynn served the Bahá’í community in Buffalo, South Carolina, and Maine, where she met Craig Farnsworth. They married, moved to Ohio, and raised three children: Michelle, Leah, and David. Lynn brought to motherhood the same depth, curiosity, integrity, humor, and love of reading that defined her own life, nurturing these qualities in her children.

As her children grew, Lynn devoted herself to empowering Bahá’í youth throughout the greater Cleveland area. For over a decade, her home became a hub of connection, creativity, music, service, and profound conversation for youth from across Ohio and neighboring states. She helped launch an annual winter conference attended by hundreds, fostering voices, purpose, and lifelong friendships. Those youth—now adults—continue to speak of Lynn’s rare ability to truly see them, love them without judgment, and inspire them to live authentically.

Inspired by this work, Lynn earned a master’s degree in Organization Development from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in her 40s, formalizing what she had long practiced intuitively: helping individuals and groups become greater than the sum of their parts.

Following her divorce in 1998, Lynn moved to Vancouver, Canada, where she spent a year at Maxwell Bahá’í School while her daughter Leah completed high school. There she became affectionately known as “Mama Lynn,” once again leaving a lasting imprint on the lives of young people.

In the following years Lynn relocated to St Louis,MO, Indianapolis,IN, Deep Creek, MD and then finally Northern Virginia, indelibly impacting those with whom she lived, worked and served. She returned to music later in life as a percussionist, practiced Orthobionomy as a gentle form of bodywork, built interfaith and community spaces, and lived as a lifelong scholar—constantly weaving connections between science, math, music, spirituality, and humanity. Throughout her life, Lynn was a devoted reader, non-conformist, healer, and world-builder. Above all, she granted others permission to be fully themselves by living her own life with honesty, courage, and compassion.

Lynn is survived by her children Michelle (and husband Quddus), Leah (and husband David), and Dave (and wife Christina); her five grandchildren, Karida, Aidan, Macelyn, Rayna, and Jasper; her sisters Sue Leisner and Marci McClive; nine nieces and nephews; and hundreds of people whose lives were shaped by her presence and love. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Doug McClive, and the father of her children, Craig Farnsworth.

A remembrance service and interment will be held on December 28, 2025, at National Funeral Home and Cemetery, 7482 Lee Highway, Falls Church, Virginia. The remembrance service and refreshments will begin at 1:00 p.m., followed by a Remembrance at 1:30pm (livestreamed) and an interment at 3:00 p.m. Attendees from all backgrounds are invited to dress in a way that feels both authentic to themselves and respectful of the occasion.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a tree be planted in Lynn’s memory through www.remembranceforest.com—a fitting tribute for a woman who loved nature, especially dogwood trees.

Lynn’s legacy lives on in truth-seeking, compassion, community, and the countless lives she helped flourish.