Roberta Shistar Lynch

She is survived by her husband Loring, her sister Terry, her daughter Kirsten, four step-children, and five grandchildren.

From an early age, Bobi showed promise as a swimmer, joining a competitive team in her youth. She swam for the Marin Pirates as a child, Redwood High School, and Sacramento State, and held regional and national records at various times.

In addition to athletics Bobi loved musical theatre and as a young girl performed in several plays with the Ross Valley Players along with her father. Her love of Disney productions in particular lead her to attend any and all Disney plays, movies, and productions.

As was her wish, Bobi’s family scattered her ashes in the ocean along the Marin County coastline along with those of several of her beloved pet cats and dogs, all appropriately named after Disney characters. As a swimmer you might have guessed that Bobi’s favorite character was Ariel the Mermaid and yes, Ariel and Sebastian the cats live on in her household today.

Bobi was an athlete all her life with swimming playing a prominent role. She participated in high level swim meets and for many years held the Pacific Association record in the 100-yard butterfly for 13/14-year-old girls. We are told she developed the unique three dolphin kicks per stroke technique in the butterfly as a way of propelling her faster. When her daughter emerged as a talented bowler, Bobi travelled as the unofficial “team Mom” for both the local bowling center team as well as the Fresno State bowling team. During the pandemic, Bobi became a Peloton devotee, adding both a bike and a treadmill to the Lynch home gym. Later in life she discovered triathlon, participating in several sprint triathlons into her 70’s often making the podium; after all, how many folks in their 70s can still swim, bike, and run competitively. She particularly loved volunteering with her husband in Kona, Hawaii at the International Ironman competition for many years. And who would ever walk the 32-mile perimeter of the island of Manhattan in New York in one 13 hour day in an event called the Great Saunter? Well, Bobi did it twice, again in her 70’s.

Bobi had several professional careers; among them medical assistant, computer instructor, auditor, and human resources manager. Her most significant roles were in the human resource/system administrator field, most recently as Benefits Manager for aerospace company Space Systems Loral in Palo Alto, CA where she met her husband who convinced her to retire and travel the world, mostly aboard cruise ships. They visited Australia and New Zealand, the UK, Scandinavia, the Caribbean, Alaska, and the Galapagos.

Bobi was also active in local service organizations such as the Oakland Junior Chamber of Commerce and Newark Days where she excelled at running the parade for many years. During Dianne Feinstein’s tenure as San Francisco mayor, Bobi ran the mayor’s Summer Youth Program on loan from her employer. She became a Lego builder, especially those representing the “Wicked” franchise. Crossword and sudoku puzzles started most of her days.

The family encourages memorial donations to either of her favorite charities, Canine Companions, which breeds, raises, and trains service dogs as companions to adults, children, and veterans with disabilities at www.canine.org or Beagle Freedom Project which rescues and rehomes animals used in experimental research at www.bfp.org. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.