Ridgeway Trimble Lynch, Jr.

Ridgeway Trimble Lynch, Jr., (Sandy), died peacefully at home in Fairview, North Carolina, on Thursday, March 12, 2020, the result of a rare and terminal neurological condition. He was born in Cary, NC, on May 9, 1948, and was raised in Asheville, North Carolina. He attended Lee Edwards High School, and was a member of Boy Scout troop 24, earning his Eagle Scout before enrolling in Oak Ridge Military Academy, where he graduated in 1966. He briefly attended Pfiffer College before attending Gaston Technical College, earning his associate’s degree in heating and air conditioning in 1969. After graduating, he joined the navy and was stationed in Virginia Beach and Iwakuni, Japan. Returning to Asheville in 1973 after his military service, Sandy worked in heating/AC before being hired at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, where he had previously worked on summer staff while in high school. In 1982, he left Kanuga, and along with his business partner, Joe Hawkins, Sandy designed and built a one-of-a-kind wood-splitting machine, selling firewood for home heating during a time when fossil fuel prices soared. It was during this time that he met Paddy while living in Fairview, when they were both single parents. When the wood lot closed, he worked for a time with Asheville Paving Company before returning to Kanuga in 1987, eventually becoming Vice President in charge of property. After 5 years of “appointments,” Sandy and Paddy married in 1988, living on the Kanuga property where Sandy declared that he was in charge of everything that was “heavy, wet, and broken.” He served as assistant scout leader with troop 75 in Fairview, as well as troop 611 in Henderson County, and was a member of the Order of the Arrow, scouting’s honor society. He was also a member of Grace Community Church, Mills River, and both the Model T Ford Club of American and the Model T Ford Club International. He was a founding member of the Blue Ridge Riders of Henderson County. Sandy retired at the end of 2010, after more than 30 years at Kanuga, and then moved back to Fairview, settling in a home built by his parents on land that has been in the family for at least 5 generations. He used his leisure time in service to others at the Welcome Table, and enjoyed hiking every Tuesday. By the time he retired, Sandy had collected 7 Model T Fords, and he was never happier than when his hands were greasy and he was tinkering with one of them. He loved hiking and camping, anything that would take him outdoors, but he was also a homebody. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a car whisperer, and a mentor to many who knew him. Sandy was a master story teller, an entertainer; a friend to all, a man who embodied humor and integrity in equal measure. He was a wonderful man who never failed to help when needed. He is survived by his wife, Paddy, his daughter, Sara (Keith) Fritz, step-daughters Anna (David) Lynch and Kari (John) Wehe, as well as 9 grandchildren: brothers Bill (Kitty) Lynch and Tom (Bob Palermo) Lynch; one niece and nephew. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mary Plummer Lynch and Ridgeway Trimble Lynch, Sr., as well as his son, Benjamin Damon Lynch. He is also survived by the mother of his children, Jamie Damon. There are currently no plans for a celebration of life, given the situation with COVID-19.

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