Lynn, William D.

Jesuit Father William D. Lynn died on on his 90th birthday, Dec. 25, 2012. He was a Jesuit for 71 years and a priest for 58 years. Fr. Lynn was a theology professor whose ministry took him from Woodstock, Md., to Asia to Ohio.

William D. Lynn, the son of Ann Quigley and William D. Lynn, was born in Rocky Mount, N.C., Dec. 25, 1922. He attended St. Michael’s High School in Ridgefield, Md., for two years before transferring to Loyola High School in Baltimore. Following graduation in 1941, he entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues on July 30, 1941. He pronounced his first vows there on July 31, 1943.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1947, a licentiate in philosophy in 1948 and a master’s degree in education in 1951, all from Woodstock College.

Fr. Lynn was ordained a priest at Woodstock on June 20, 1954.

Fr. Lynn’s further studies took him to St. Mary’s College in St. Mary’s, Kan., in 1951 for a year of theology studies and then to Fordham University in 1956 where he studied historical methodology for a year. From 1957 to 1959, he studied dogmatic theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. In addition, Fr. Lynn went to Sogang College in Korea in 1968 for a year to study the Korean language.

As a scholastic, Fr. Lynn went to St. Joseph’s Preparatory School where he taught French to freshmen from 1948 to 1951. In 1959, he was given his first assignment as a professor of theology at Loyola College, now Loyola University Maryland. He taught there for a year.

For most of the next 47 years, Fr. Lynn taught theology in seminaries in Asia and Ohio. He went to Rangoon, Burma, where from 1960 to 1966, he served as dean and professor of theology and sacred scripture at Catholic Major Seminary.

Subsequent assignments as a professor of theology took him to Woodstock College, 1966-1968; Daegun College in Korea, 1969-1971; Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where he also served as department chairman, 1971-1973; St. Vincent Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla., 1973-1974; and St. Francis Seminary in Loretto, Pa., 1974-1979.

In 1979, he began his longest assignment, as professor of theology at Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. During his tenure there, which lasted until 2007, Fr. Lynn was also dean from 1986 to 1992, and director of the pre-theology program from 1992 to 2000.

In failing health, Fr. Lynn transferred to the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, Pa., in 2007 where he continued to serve by praying for the church and the Society until his death. Fr. Lynn is survived by many nieces and nephews.