Omaha World Herald Posted: Sunday, March 20, 2016 12:15 am | Updated: 10:10 am, Sun Mar 20, 2016. By Reece Ristau / World-Herald staff writer
Talk to those who knew Dan Lynch and they'll describe a voracious advocate for public good, an impassioned speaker on issues he cared for and someone who could get almost anyone to laugh.
A longtime Douglas County Board member and former state senator, Lynch was the driving force behind the creation of ENCOR, which provides services to those with developmental disabilities. He also wrote the bill that requires Nebraska motorcyclists to wear a helmet.
Daniel C. Lynch died on Thursday of natural causes. He was 86.
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Julie Freeman, one of Lynch's daughters, said he felt especially passionate about those who didn't have a voice to fight for their rights. It was one reason he pushed for the creation of ENCOR.
It was also a quality he instilled in each of his five children.
"Not a day went by that we didn't understand how lucky we were," Freeman said. "We always grew up knowing that we needed to appreciate and be grateful for what we had and who we are and what we were capable of."
In his 16 years as a state senator, Lynch often focused on safety and health.
Following the death of his son-in-law in a motorcycle accident in 1975, Lynch began an effort to ensure riders would be safer with a mandatory helmet law.
When his own son, Daniel Lynch Jr., suffered a critical head injury in a car accident in 1985, he ramped up his efforts.
The law went into effect in 1989 and has withstood multiple attempts to repeal it.
This year, an effort to replace the mandate with a state brain injury fund failed by three votes after a six-hour filibuster. That failure came the day Lynch died.
Rep. Brad Ashford, D-Neb., served with Lynch in the Legislature and recalled how passionate he was about the helmet bill.
"The motorcycle helmet law was his legacy," Ashford said. "All the times that efforts were made to stop it, he would go to the mat and fight hard."
It wasn't just the floor of the Legislature where Lynch fought: He also literally went to the mat as a substitute professional wrestler, said David Landis, a former state senator and Lincoln's director of urban development. Usually, Lynch fought as a villain.
Freeman said Lynch's wrestling days came before she was born, when he was making just $35 a week as an Omaha plumber.
She said she understands he filled in for a local troupe as a "masked marauder" at times to help make ends meet.
Ashford said that as a senator in the 1980s, Lynch was a "force to be reckoned with politically."
In 1987, Nebraska lawmakers passed a bill that ultimately created tax exemptions for corporately owned equipment, such as jet planes.
Ashford said Lynch's commitment to fighting for working people drove him to fiercely oppose the bill, believing that corporations shouldn't keep money that could go to the state for other uses.
It was Lynch's status as a working man that led him to fight for working people. He got his start in politics with a keen interest in a Young Democrats group. From there, he worked his way up the ranks, first serving 24 years on the County Board, for a time as its chairman. He left the Legislature after losing a bid for a fifth term in the 2000 election.
Lynch wasn't just a public servant when he was required to be.
When his children were young, they recall him keeping plumbing tools in the trunk of his Lincoln Continental, just in case someone needed a quick repair. One Christmas Eve, a neighboring family needed just that, and out the door he went.
During the Christmas seasons, Lynch would dress as Santa Claus and visit children at Boys and Girls Clubs.
"I appreciated his good humor, his quick wit and his gregarious nature," Landis said.
In his free time, Lynch was an avid golfer, teeing off at courses all over the country.
He also owned a lake house at Woodcliff Lakes near Fremont, where he now has great-grandchildren who head out to swim each summer.
In addition to Freeman and his son, Lynch is survived by daughters Marianne Mathena, Debra LeMay and Maureen Burkhiser.
His funeral was held Monday, March 21st at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, 8200 N. 30th St. in Omaha.
Dan Lynch served on the Nebraska Association of County Officials Board of Directors from 1967 to 1981 and served as its President in 1969. He also served as the National Association of County Officials President in 1977.
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