Mr. Lynch grew up in North Philadelphia. He attended Roman Catholic High School before entering Holy Ghost Seminary in Connecticut to study for the priesthood. By 1943 he had determined that he did not have a vocation and had enlisted in the Marine Corps. During World War II he served in the South Pacific as a radioman and participated in the second landing on Iwo Jima.

After his discharge he worked the night shift for Eastern Airlines in Philadelphia and took a course at La Salle University during the day. He had to drop out of school in 1948 when Eastern transferred him to Nashville. Mr. Lynch later serviced corporate accounts for Avis and in 1956 joined McNeil as a district sales manager. In the late 1970s as director of community relations, Mr. Lynch was the company's liaison with area residents when McNeil expanded its facilities in Spring House.

After retiring in 1983, he was a community relations consultant for McNeil for 10 years and helped organize the company's annual Thanksgiving dinner distribution, which provided more than 2,000 meals to needy people in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

Mr. Lynch was married to Theresa Brady Lynch for 38 years until her death in 1987. They met at the Chez Vous ballroom in Upper Darby, married in 1949, and raised three children in Jenkintown, where he was involved in community activities.

Though he had a good family and fulfilling career, his daughter Kathleen Ciarlante said, he always regretted never earning a college degree. In 2003, at 82, he was awarded an associate's degree at La Salle's commencement ceremony, thanks to the efforts of his daughter and the La Salle staff. They determined that the courses Mr. Lynch had taken at La Salle, along with the philosophy and religion he took years before in the seminary, fulfilled the requirements for a degree.

Mr. Lynch enjoyed golf and was an excellent tennis player, his daughter said.

He is also survived by daughters Jody Saltzman and Rosemary, and five grandchildren.

Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. today at Shaeff-Myers Funeral Home, 145 Tennis Ave., Ambler. The funeral will be at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at Calvary Presbyterian Church, 217 Fernbrook Ave., Wyncote. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham.