Ingrid Lynch

Ingrid Lynch was born Mary Ingrid Mehrmann on January 24, 1944 in Lima, Peru where her father was a pilot for Pan American-Grace Airways. Her parents John Frederick Mehrmann (1911-1991) and Irene Marion Halvorsen (1921-1987) divorced and Ingrid moved to Seattle at the age of three with her mother Irene and sister, Rita Irene. The family lived in Ballard until the age of 10.  After her mother remarried David Soyat (1921-1999), a navy man, the family moved frequently throughout the country including to California, Rhode Island and Illinois.  She graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Arlington Heights, IL in 1961.  After graduation she followed her sister to Barry College in Miami, FL where she attained a BS in nursing in 1965.

Following college graduation she married Peter Ryan Healy (1941-1968) in Houghton, MI.  Their son Michael was born in 1966 and daughter Maureen was born in 1967.  In November of 1968 Ingrid was tragically widowed and subsequently returned with her children to Seattle to be near her family. Despite the distance, she remained in close contact and deeply valued relations with the extended Healy family in the Midwest.

She completed a Masters in Nursing at the University of Washington and began working at Children’s Hospital.  At Children’s Hospital she met John Irving Lynch, Jr. (1934-2015), and the two later married in 1975, bringing her stepchildren Christopher and Suzanne Lynch into her life.

From 1975 to 2000 Ingrid lived with her family in Redmond, Washington. She was the anchor at 6235 230th Ave. NE and a neighborhood mainstay in Sunrise Estates. Ingrid was an active volunteer in Lake Washington Schools and Youth Eastside Services. Her hobbies included soccer (playing and coaching), backpacking, kayaking, sewing and skiing at Stevens Pass. In 1982 she returned to the University of Washington and became a certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

Working in private practice at Redmond Pediatrics, Ingrid was an advocate for parents and children. She cared for infants, teens and was especially supportive to new mothers. She later moved to public health, working for the King County Health Department at the Columbia Health Center.  She worked for Group Health and eventually moved to the Seattle School District, working in the teen health system at Ranier Beach High School.

One of Ingrid’s proudest achievements was completing the TransAmerica Bike Trek in 1989, pedaling over 3000 miles from Seattle to Atlantic City to raise money for the American Lung Association.

Around 2000 Ingrid and Jack moved to Shaw Island, WA in the San Juans. There she spent over a decade of eventful island life on Serendipity Lane. She tended llamas, split wood, painted watercolors, hosted visiting grandchildren, worked as an EMT, cooked for friends and loved the free bench.

In 2011, Ingrid moved to Horizon House, a retirement community in downtown Seattle. Jack passed away there in 2015. While at Horizon House she was active in a number of committees and activities including bridge, painting, puzzling, avid sewing and quilting, gardening and watering trees around the neighborhood during the dry months. She dearly enjoyed the company of her friend Ed Wilson. Ingrid is survived by her children Michael Allen (Heather) Healy, Maureen Anne Healy (Will Pritchard), John Christopher (Anna) Lynch, and Suzanne Siobhan Lynch, siblings Rita Irene Gardner, Jeffrey David Soyat, Lisa Victoria Clark and Dana Eric Soyat, grandchildren Flannery Elizabeth Lynch, Connor Michael Healy, Riley Davis Lynch, Erin Ashlyn Healy, Brenna Grace Healy, Avery Colin Pritchard and George Jackson Pritchard, and dozens of nieces and nephews for whom she was the beloved “Aunt Ingrid.”