Florence Lynn Hill Lester, age 88, of Lebanon, TN passed away peacefully on August 18, 2024 with her family by her side.
Lynn was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 31, 1936 to the late Florence Rogers Hill and Dr. Otho Reed Hill.
She completed high school at the Peabody Demonstration School in Nashville (now University School of Nashville) and went on to graduate with top honors as the 1958 Founder’s Medalist of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. While at Vanderbilt, she was active in the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Lynn’s heart for serving others may have begun with her nurse’s training, but it extended far beyond. She was always a champion of the less fortunate, whether it was helping a foster child navigate the court system as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) or rescuing a puppy she’d found by the side of the road.
Her passion for volunteerism spanned several decades and included leadership roles in the Lebanon Village Women’s Club and the Lebanon Jaycettes. In addition, Lynn served as a counselor for the YWCA’s Displaced Homemakers’ Program and as Vice Chairman of the Mid-Cumberland Private Industry Council. She was also a Cub Scout den mother and a Sunday School teacher and active participant in various outreach programs at College Hills Church of Christ. Lynn and her husband, Ken Lester, Jr., also volunteered as foster parents through the AGAPE program.
Because Lynn believed in the importance of making mental health care available to all who needed it, she was instrumental in helping organize the Wilson County Mental Health Center (now Cumberland Mental Health Services), serving as both a charter member and board member.
Lynn was an avid supporter of education at all levels. She and Ken were among the founders and were longtime patrons of Friendship Christian School in Lebanon, where they helped establish the Ken and Lynn Lester Performing Arts Center and the Lester Family Library. She also contributed to Harding Academy in Nashville with the naming of the Lester-Roche Discovery Lab, she endowed a scholarship at the University School of Nashville, and she served on the Board of Trustees of Cumberland University in Lebanon.
Trying her hand at something different, Lynn also took a turn at entrepreneurship as co-owner of Design House, a home interiors business offering interior design services.
While service to others was her passion, Lynn’s purest joy was found in the presence of young children. Even Alzheimer’s could not steal “Ma Lynn’s” love for a pair of small hands and an innocent heart, whenever a grandchild or any child was in her presence.
Lynn was predeceased by her parents and husband, Ken.
She is survived by her daughters Holly Roche (Stephen) of Nashville and Kendra Ray (Jeff) of Lebanon; sons Kevin Lester (Teresa) of Lebanon and John Lester of Nashville; grandchildren Lyndsey Harris (Nathan), Kason Lester, Mitchell Lester and Brianna Stovall of Lebanon, Landon Ray (Kristen) of Charlotte, NC., Lillian Dokken (Sloan), Elliott Roche, Alexandra Roche and Lexi Lester of Nashville, Hayden Roche (Zaira) of Los Angeles, CA, and Cody Lester (Chelsea) of Murfreesboro; great-grandchildren Emmaline and Greyson Harris of Lebanon, Margot and Genevieve Dokken of Nashville, and Camden and Eliza Ray of Charlotte, NC. Lynn is also survived by her brother John Hill, Sr. of Lebanon.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Wilson Manor and the numerous other caregivers who have devotedly cared for Lynn over the years.
Visitation with the family will be held on Wednesday, August 21 at Partlow Funeral Chapel, 602 South Cumberland St., Lebanon, TN from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. A Celebration of Life will follow at 2:00 PM. Interment will follow in the Wilson County Memorial Gardens. Grandsons and Grandsons-in-law will serve as pallbearers.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Friendship Christian School, College Hills Church of Christ, University School of Nashville, or the Alzheimer’s Association.
Partlow Funeral Chapel in care of arrangments. 615-444-7007 www.partlowchapel.com
For more obituaries visit https://wilsoncountysource.com/obituaries/
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