Industry Pioneer Charles Lynch Passes at Age 88

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On Thursday, October 13, 2016, Charles Edward Lynch died peacefully at home in Cohasset, MA after several years of failing health. Lynch was known in the electronics industry for starting the NEPCON trade shows, which are in their 27^th year of operation.

Charles Edward Lynch was born in Boston on May 13, 1928 to Dr. Charles Lynch (d.1939) and Mary Louise (Maney) Lynch (d.1999). He was the loving and beloved husband of Margaret (Alberti) Lynch whom he married on July 4, 1953 in Rye, NY. They moved to Cohasset in 1955 and raised two daughters Marylouise, wife of Christopher Crofton-Atkins, of Boston and Edgartown, and Megan Jergens, of Naples, FL. He leaves two adored grandchildren Beryl Crofton-Atkins of London and Charles Nicholas Patti of Naples, FL.

When asked what he did, Charlie usually replied, with the self-deprecation of a genuinely humble man, “I’ve been a paratrooper and a Marine, and I sell Brooklyn Bridges.” Charlie was never without a twinkle in his eyes, a broad smile on his lips and a resonating deep laugh that filled any room. You heard him before you saw him. Discouraging words were not in his vocabulary.

In 1946, he graduated from La Salle Military Academy in Oakdale, NY and enlisted in the Army, serving in Japan with the 187th Glider Infantry Regiment. Returning to the United States, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, entered Boston University, and worked the night shift at the Boston Herald-Traveler Corporation’s advertising department. While working for the newspaper he was elected president of the Boston Newspaper Guild.

The Marine Corps called him back into active service at the outbreak of the Korean Conflict and he served through 1951 when President Truman allowed veteran reservists who had prior overseas active service to return to civilian life. Charlie had successfully completed Marine Officers’ Candidate School but declined to accept a commission because he had only one semester of college to complete before graduation. He graduated from Boston University in 1952 and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Northeastern University in 1966. He joined Kiver Publications (EP&P Magazine) of Chicago as its New England advertising manager. He also helped to launch the widely attended NEPCON trade shows in the electronics manufacturing industry. In 1970, he formed CEL Associates, Inc., which grew to be the predominant business-to-business advertising sales agency on the East Coast. CEL Associates, Inc. continues to operate in Boston under his daughter’s direction. Chafing at retirement, Charlie joined Jack Conway Realtors as an active broker through 2014.

Later, he spent his leisure time enjoying the company of Cohasset “Old Goats.”

Charlie loved nothing more than free diving for lobsters off of Black Rock Beach in Cohasset. A certified scuba diver, Charlie snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, the Aegean Sea, the waters of the Caribbean, Hawaii, and South Africa. His many crustacean delicacies were turned into lobster pies to be served, accompanied by his favorite Chablis, at the dinner parties he loved to host. A serious oenophile, Charlie pursued not the rarest or most expensive of wines, but the wines that complemented daily dinners.    

He was an active parishioner of Saint Anthony’s Church in Cohasset, serving as a Sunday and daily lector at Mass for more than 50 years. If you wish to remember Charlie, please do so with a donation to the charity to which he was devoted, the Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity, Quincy Street, Dorchester, MA 02021. Please do, as Charlie did on a daily basis, perform an act of kindness for a friend or stranger.

In addition to his wife, daughters and grandchildren, Charlie is survived by three cousins, Dr. Bernard Maney of Mashpee, MA, Katherine Glynn Brady of Hebron, CT and James Lynch of Gloucester, MA.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, October 18 at Saint Anthony’s Church, Cohasset, MA. Interment will be private at a later date.

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