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Editorial
Over the past several decades, whenever someone here at the newspaper was writing anything to do with Buena Vista’s history, there was one go-to person who could confirm details or offer illuminating information, to help ensure the accuracy and completeness of the story. That person was Francis Lynn, known throughout the community as Buena Vista’s unofficial historian.
Lynn, who died last week at age 96, earned this appellation during his retirement years here, when he immersed himself in the history of the city while serving as the historian for the city’s centennial committee in the early 1990s. He dove deeply into the subject matter, compiling enough material to produce a comprehensive history of the city, “Buena Vista: The Bud Not Yet Blossomed,” a book published in the city’s centennial year of 1992.
This book is considered by local history buffs to be the definitive history of Buena Vista’s first 100 years and is consulted frequently by those who want to know something of the city’s history or to confirm details when writing about it. The publication of the book thus launched a second career of sorts – writing about local history and giving presentations on it.
Another tome followed in 2001, “‘Fesser’ McCluer, The Life and Times of J. Parry Mc-Cluer,” about the namesake for the city’s high school who was the city school system’s first superintendent. Lynn tackled this subject with relish, recognizing that this was a name local folks were quite familiar with, even if their actual knowledge of Parry McCluer the man was very sparse. Lynn adeptly filled in the blanks on this missing history.
Lynn’s deep knowledge of Buena Vista’s history served the community well upon the inception of the Paxton House Historical Society in the 1990s and throughout the restoration of the historic 1831 mansion at Glen Maury Park. According to Paxton House Board President Marolyn Cash, the boards of director and trustees “were guided by and appreciative of the immense knowledge and the amount of research that [he] did to educate citizens of Buena Vista about the history of the Paxton House and all of Buena Vista.”
Lynn, said Cash “loved his hometown of Buena Vista, and he had a passion for its history. … He led quarterly informative gatherings about everything Buena Vista. From churches, businesses, schools to people, he wrote and had published booklets that were sold to help fund the restoration of the Paxton House. For many, these gatherings [revealed] a history of Buena Vista that they had not heard and for others they brought back fond memories of times gone by. Francis Lynn was truly a gift to all who knew him and all the lives that he touched. He left a lasting legacy.”
A scholar from a young age, the multi-talented Lynn’s interests and accomplishments went well beyond being Buena Vista’s unofficial historian. He was the valedictorian of the Parry McCluer High School class of 1946. He earned an academic scholarship to attend Washington and Lee University, where he majored in French and graduated in 1950.
He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1950 to 1954, during which time he utilized his language skills as a listener and code breaker during the Korean War. While stationed in Germany, he was taught Russian, a skill that was put to use working in military intelligence during the early stages of the Cold War. He even had an opportunity to join the then-fledgling National Security Agency but chose instead to return stateside and become an educator in his hometown.
From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, Lynn taught English, French and Latin at PMHS. Then, in 1963, he relocated to Northern Virginia to teach Russian in Fairfax County. After that, he served as supervisor of foreign languages and English in Prince William County, a position he held for 23 years before returning to Buena Vista in 1987 to teach Latin at PMHS.
Oh, and Lynn was also an exceptional singer. He exhibited this talent early, singing in public at age 4. When he was in the Air Force, he joined a barbershop quartet that won several competitions, including ones that took him to London and Scotland. Throughout his life, he continued to sing in a variety of settings, including in his home church, the Buena Vista Presbyterian Church.
Yes, Lynn was a man of many talents who certainly made his mark on the greater Buena Vista community. He will be missed.
Editor’s note: In preparing this editorial, The News-Gazette’s files were combed for past articles that were written about Lynn. One such article that may be considered the definitive history of Lynn was one written by Doug Chase, “Lynn’s Soft Shoe Magic, PM Hall of Fame Inductee Tells How His Varied Career Brought Him home,” published on Oct. 7, 2015.
