William F Lynch

William F. Lynch, M.D., died on Tuesday, May 24th, 2016, after a long and fortunate life. For nine decades, Bill lived life fully, devoting himself to his family, his patients, and his faith. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on November 11, 1924, the son of the late William F. and Alice G. Lynch. Dr. Lynch attended Hillhouse High School before enrolling at Providence College in 1943, the same year he was drafted by the U.S. Army. Bill earned a Bronze Star while serving as a field medic with the 193 glider regiment of the 17th Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge. And with the 194th glider regiment during Operation Varsity, the airborne invasion of Germany. With the end of the war, Bill returned to PC, graduating in 1948 and moving to Philadelphia to attend Jefferson Medical College.

Following medical school, Bill returned to New Haven to intern at the Hospital of St. Raphael, where he met Rosemary C. Kelly, who has been Bill's devoted wife and friend for the past 63 years. After his residency at Irvington House and Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, Bill practiced Internal Medicine in Milford for several years before turning to psychiatry, completing his residency at the Institute of Living in Hartford. In addition to his private practice, Bill served as the first director of St. Raphael's psychiatric unit and as a member of the state Board of Mental Health. He later became Clinical Director of Bridgeport Community Mental Health Center and as Chief of Psychiatry at Fairfield Hills State Hospital. He also served his community on the Milford Board of Health for many years. Bill's compassion and concern for those suffering from mental illness were the governing forces of his professional life.

In his personal life, Bill focused on his family and his Roman Catholic faith. A longtime member of St. Mary's Church in Milford, Bill also attended Mass at St. Gabriel's, and, until recent years, was an active member of the Dominican laity at St. Mary's Church in New Haven.

Bill will be remembered with love and fondness by Rosemary, their four children, and their families: son Bill, his wife, Nicole, and their three daughters, Mary, Emily, and Grace, of Seymour; his daughter, Rosemary, her husband, Tom Dillon, and their son, Chris, of Denver, Colorado; his son Tom, his wife, Sharon, and her son Paul, of Southbury; and son Peter and his children, Dan and Mattie, of Milford. Also surviving Bill are his brothers- and sisters-in law: Frank and Marilyn Kelly, Dan and Anne Kelly, Kathleen and Jim Dalton, and JoAnn Mapes, and many nieces and nephews.  In addition to his parents, Bill was predeceased by his sister, Sr. Wilma Lynch O.P., and cousin J. Peter Lynch.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday at 10:30AM at St. Ann Church, 501 Naugatuck Ave., Milford. Burial will follow at St. Lawrence Cemetery, West Haven. Friends and family may call on Thursday, May 26th from 4:00-7:00PM at the Gregory F. Doyle Funeral Home, 291 Bridgeport Ave., Milford.

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