Lyn was many things to many people.  First and foremost, she was a loving wife to Tony and a devoted mother to her seven children, Meg, Matt, Ann, Brad, Scott, Faye, and Monica, all of whom miss her beyond what words can convey and formed this fund, in part, to carry on a connection with her spirit.  

 
Lyn was born in 1954 to Robert and Harriet Bradney of Jacksonville, Illinois.  There, Lyn had a happy childhood growing up with her dear sisters Nancy, Ann, and Gail.  Jacksonville always remained close to Lyn's heart and later on in life, as a mom raising a family in St. Louis, nothing brought her more joy than piling the kids into the Ford Aerostar minivan and taking them on the 2-hour drive over the muddy Mississippi, through the golden cornfields, to visit her childhood home.    

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Lyn spent her formative years in Jacksonville and attended the local college, Illinois College, before branching out to St. Louis for her post-graduate education.  In St. Louis, she attended the Brown School at Washington University and graduated with a Masters in Social Work in 1979, being selected for a prestigious Coro Fellowship in the process.

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Lyn began her professional career as a licensed therapist but could not hold her ambitions in check for long.  A woman of diverse interests, she possessed a talent for the written word instilled by her father, a passion for community engagement taken from her mother, and an adventurous spirit all her own.  Those attributes drove her towards a vast array of personal and professional pursuits.  

 

She became an organizer of school desegregation efforts in St. Louis.  She was a published author and collaborated in penning the memoir of Richard Klein, a prominent St. Louisan known for his pioneering work in film, cable, and music production.  Hailing from a father who was a Harvard-educated attorney, Lyn was later drawn to the legal field and became a successful legal researcher and assistant for multiple local law firms.    

Amazingly, despite giving so much of herself to her family life and professional work, Lyn was determined to contribute more.  That determination manifested itself in her lifelong dedication to volunteerism and charitable work.  She spent countless hours organizing and participating in efforts to help underserved communities in St. Louis.  Among other charitable work, she was a regular volunteer at the St. Augustine Wellston Center and a mainstay at the food pantry there, helping to provide nourishment and other essential services to lower-income community members.  She was an active member of the social justice committees at both the Our Lady of Lourdes and Sacred Heart parishes, and a planner of Lourdes' annual Day of Service.  She volunteered countless hours to private charitable causes, including working with the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation (providing need-based scholarships to children in the St. Louis area) and partnering with Dan and Adelaide Schlafly to promote social and racial justice as well as educational reform in St. Louis.  On a more informal basis, anyone in the family, parish, or community in need of help or guidance knew they could turn to Lyn, and in response she gave whatever she could: clothes, food, money, counseling, and on more than one occasion, shelter.

Outside of work and charity, Lyn filled her life with close friends who shared her values.  She was fiercely loyal and trusting, believing deeply in the worth of all people—especially those unjustly cast to the margins of our society.  She was intellectually curious and profoundly intrigued by other cultures, always eager to build relationships with Bosnian, Somali, and other diverse communities in the St. Louis area.  

 

Lyn loved good wine and good food, with a penchant for French cooking and preparing rich meals drowned in butter and heavy cream—the good stuff—whenever possible.  She adored her dog, Bea, and the quiet contentment of taking aimless strolls through the neighborhood, headphones on, listening to Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, Peter, Paul & Mary, and other music she grew up with.  She had an explorer’s spirit and loved travel, most recently trekking the Scottish highlands with Tony, Matt, and Scott, although her heart never strayed far from those golden Illinois cornfields of her youth.  Her ashes are interred there, in a quiet cemetery on the outskirts of Jacksonville she shares with her beloved mom and dad, Harriet and Robert.  She is missed every single day and will never be forgotten.