by Ellen Fitzgerald, special to KankaNation
Yesterday one of my favorite KankaNation Hall of Famers, Dick Lynch, passed away. I originally had an affinity for him since he was associated with my two favorite football programs, Notre Dame and the Giants, and was also a Jersey guy. While all three of these things are true, the thing that I remember about him most was how nice of a man he was.
I was first introduced to Dick Lynch thought my father who got to know him at Giants Stadium where he worked as a broadcaster for Giants games. As all you loyal KankaNation readers know, my father works security at the Meadowlands. Because of where he is posted he gets to chat with players, coaches, the media etc on a weekly basis. My dad always goes out of his way to make extra special friends with anyone associated with ND. Obviously since, as we all know, ND alumni always feel a close bond to each other and in general seem to be a cut above the rest (especially in politeness) they all have been more than happy to talk with my father about Notre Dame, football, and even his former manager daughter who now still works in collegiate athletics!
Dick Lynch, however, was different. He always took extra time out to talk with my dad (and even myself when I was able to make games) and get to know him and ask about me. He was a real class act. My favorite memory of Dick Lynch dates back to 2002. I was in the Hesburgh Library and noticed on a table of books that they were discarding the book "There Were Giants in those Days". Being a Giants fan I picked it up and then immediate noticed that one of the photos on the cover was of Dick Lynch! I immediately sent the book home to my dad so he could show it to Lynch! When he did see it he wrote me a cute note inside of it thanking me for saving the book even though his alma mater didn't! That is something I treasure!
Those are some of my personal memories of this Hall of Famer. Below is an article that my parents just sent me from our local NJ paper, the Star Ledger that tells a bit more about Dick Lynch.
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2008/09/izenberg_lynch_a_true_giant_of.html
Editor's note: Lynch was a 2006 KankaSports Hall of Fame inductee.
