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DAVID LEE LYNCH, SR.
1906 - 1977
David was born the second of 3 children on February 13, 1906 on the Driftwood settlement, near San Marcos, Texas. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His mother, Betty Martin Lynch, grew up in the Martindale area. His dad, Boone Everett Lynch, was born in Lockhart. They bought the 140 acre Stockdale farm in 1917 that was later sold in 1988. They raised hogs and chickens, and kept a milk cow. They had crops of cotton, corn, sugarcane, and a vegetable garden. Mules and horses were used to work the farm. David went to the Denhawkin country school, called the Dilworth School. According to family, he was said to have dropped out and run away when he was 14 years old.
He went to San Antonio and rented a room. For a short time he worked at a dairy making mayonnaise, where he came to hate mayo! Later he got a job at Southern Pacific Railroad off New Braunfels, as a machine apprentice with on the job training. After 4 years, he was a journeyman, repairing train engines. At the age of 20, he met Irene Coker and
2 years later, they were married September 21, 1928. Shortly after they were married, he was laid off from the railroad during the Depression. During this time, he bought 2 dump trucks and did hauling. After a few years, he went back to the railroad where he worked for 42 years. His 2 sons, David Jr. and Eugene also went to work for Southern
Pacific Railroad, following in his footsteps. Also his Father-in-law, Wm McAnneny Jr, "Mac", worked there.
David retired in 1966 after his first heart attack at the age of 60. After a year of rest, he worked part-time making and delivering boat trailers, for a couple of years.
He started bird and deer hunting as a boy. When he was engaged to Irene, he taught her how to Quail and Dove hunt on the Stockdale farm. He later taught his 2 boys to hunt when they were about 10 years old, and big enough to hold
a gun. They didn't have a deer lease until the late 1940's, where they hunted in Hondo, Bandera, Sabinal, and then Quihi for many years. They also hunted several times in Colorado for the larger Mule Deer in the 1960's. Later he had
a lease in Freer in West Texas, where he also got Javelinas.
David bought and traded cars about as often as they moved! Sometimes he would drop Irene off at work in one car, and pick her up in another! His favorite vehicle was the Jeep Wagoneer (like a Suburban). One day while docking the boat at Goose Island, he left the car in gear and it rolled into the salt water and the horn stuck! It was cleaned out and repaired, but was never the same, so he sold it.
They took many family vacations. In 1940, they took a train ride to Detroit and bought a car from the factory, where they also got a tour. They got one of the last new cars before the war when car production stopped. Then they drove to Canada, Niagara Falls, the World's Fair in New York City, and back through the Pennsylvania coal mines. The boys spent more time wrestling in the back seat, than sightseeing. Gene was about 6 years old, and dropped a shoe out of the window and didn't tell anyone until miles down the road! In the 1940's they also took a trip through Mexico with the highlight being a mule ride to Horseshoe Falls. In 1947, they drove through Pecos, Texas (where the Jersey Lily served as saloon and courthouse for Judge Roy Bean), saw the Grand Canyon, and saw the Hoover Dam on the way to the California coast, in San Diego.
David was a strict disciplinarian with his boys. He was prejudice against some people, but was very generous with family, often loaning his money and his boat.
When the boys were young, David started going fishing down on the Texas coast. They would go deep sea fishing out of Port Aransas. Later he got his first Johnson boat motor about 1946 and would rent a boat. He got his first boat about 1959 and later got the Sea Ray. This started the tradition of coast fishing in the whole family! We stayed in the Adam's cottages at St. Charles Bay for many years. He finally retired down at the coast in 1970. He enjoyed living on the coast for 7 years. Their house was between Copano Bay and Salt Lake with a channel next to it. There is a view of water from all directions! The wild Mallard ducks that lived there fascinated them. David raised some abandoned baby ducklings. They were tame enough to eat from his hand. He loved his ducks, but when the group grew to 25, they became a nuisance and a mess!
After they were at the coast, David had a second mild heart attack. He also had gallbladder surgery. He loved his biscuits with butter everyday, eggs, and bacon. That was when we first learned about problems with high cholesterol in our diet. There weren't many low fat or fat free products at that time. David said he would rather enjoy his favorite foods than "starve"!
He liked to play dominoes, play 42 with cards, and watch baseball games. When he was younger, he played softball with the Railroad team, and took the boys to local San Antonio Mission games. His favorite TV shows were "Gunsmoke",
"Rifleman", and "Lawrence Welk".
He had his third heart attack at his coast home and passed away on the way to the hospital on January 14, 1977, just short of his 71st birthday. He is buried at the Coker Cemetery. He was married 48 years. The first of 5 grandchildren nicknamed him "Popo" and that's what he was called from then on. Unfortunately, he did not live to see his great grandchildren, but there was a big family reunion in December before his death. His sudden death was very hard on the family.
Prepared by Judy Lynch - 11/1997.
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