By Emily J.
Minor
OCEAN RIDGE — It’s never
easy losing a beloved parent, but Diana Lyne is finding solace in the memories
after the death of her father, Eugene Lyne, 86, who spent his winters in Ocean
Ridge for about the last 20 years.
She
was going through photographs recently for a gathering after the funeral. And
something struck her. Something wonderful.
“In
every single picture he was either laughing or smiling,” she said. “He was an
incredible supporter of his children, no matter what we were doing.”
Mr.
Lyne died May 13 at his home at the Ocean Club. His daughter said he had
suffered a stroke about two years ago but still managed to winter in Florida
and spend about five months up north.
Lyne
was devoted his 11 grandchildren. “He’d sit down and have a tea party with
little tea cups,” she said. “He was game for anything.”
A passion for football made Lyne a rabid New England Patriots fan, his daughter
said, though he also liked the Red Sox.
Born
in Boston in 1924, he attended prestigious schools all his life, including Harvard University and Boston
College Law School. He served the U.S. Marine Corps in China before returning
to the states to practice law for 16 years. In 1967, he joined the Teradyne Co.
as general counsel and began moving up the corporate ranks. When he retired, he
was president of Lyne-Nicholson Inc.
Despite
the generous donation of his time to major charities and boards, it was his love
for competition, his love for the outdoors and his love for his children that
his daughter remembers so fondly.
“He
was an early feminist,” she said. “He had four daughter and he was a man who
believed his daughters could achieve anything.”
When
they were little, she said her dad would pay them to play chess with him and
then “beat us in four moves.”
When
Mr. Lyne was in Florida, he would walk the beach every morning and collect
seashells. He also played tennis, mostly doubles, and golfed. Diana Lyne said
that he walked the course and carried his own bag until his stroke.
Each
Easter, Mr. Lyne would organize an extravagant “shell hunt” for children at the
Ocean Club. “He would collect shells all year long and every Easter he would
get up early and completely pack the beach with the shells he had collected,”
said Diana Lyne.
He
always saved a big conch shell for the grand prize, she said.
His
wife of 55 years, Ruth Lally Lyne, preceded him in death.
Mr.
Lyne is survived by a son, Daniel, of Newton, Mass., and his four daughters,
Diana, Susan, Barbara and Abigail, all of New York City. He is also survived by
his wife, Mary Lloyd Lyne; his grandchildren, and a brother and a sister. He
was buried in late May in Brookline, Mass.
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