Searching For A Hero’s Family

HAMPTON – A Purple Heart and a World War I Victory Medal both represent valor and patriotism.

When the recipients of these awards pass on, families treasure the symbolism and memories that the relics evoke.

A New Jersey couple, Tod and Patricia Wentworth Torrence, possess these two military medals, but they do not belong to the Torrence family.

Now, they are searching for the rightful owner(s).

“We want to see them returned, to the family of the man who earned them,” Patricia said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”

The Torrences know that the medals were awarded to a man named Joseph A. Lynch.

They know Lynch was born March 31, 1898, that he lived in Hampton when he retired and that he died at age 72. The Torrences estimate his date of death at Oct. 15, 1970, but say they could be wrong about the exact date.

“Joe was a friend of my mother’s sister (Kay Wentworth Rand),” Patricia said. “When my aunt passed away, her effects went to my mother (Elizabeth Rand Wentworth), and the medals were in her possessions. When my mother passed away, the medals came to me.”

Joseph Lynch was a widower, and Rand was a divorcee. Patricia said the two were “keeping company.” She’s not sure how the medals came to be in her aunt’s possession, but they have been in the Torrence family for more than 30 years.

Patricia said it’s time for them to go home where they belong.

The family has managed to obtain a copy of Lynch’s obituary, but it is undated.

A call to government records revealed Lynch’s Social Security number, but that’s where the trail goes cold.

The Torrences have tried for about a year and a half but can get no further in their search.

The Torrences say it’s important to them to do everything in their power to locate Joseph Lynch’s heirs.

As a family steeped in military tradition and with a love of history, the Torrences believe Lynch’s family will appreciate having the medals returned.

Tod is a retired Air Force man, and his father served in World War I. Both of the couple’s sons have served in the military.

Tod Hayes, 41, was a member of the Army infantry. He now teaches history in Milburne, N.J.

Dan, 39, has spent 20 years in the Air Force, said his proud dad.

If the medals are not wanted/claimed, the Torrences said they would like to see them donated to a museum.

The Devens Military Museum is located where Fort Devens used to be. Burt Tompkins, a key figure in the museum, said he’d love to have the medals.

But, without finding an heir, the museum can’t have the medals, either.

“In order for us to have them, we’d need verification from the family that they have no objections to our displaying them,” Tompkins said.

Understandably, the family wants the person who claims the medals to be able to provide some type of verifiable proof that he/she is Joseph Lynch’s rightful heir.

Obituary

Joseph A. Lynch, 72, Burial In Hampton

Hampton Union, Wednesday, October 21, 1970

EXETER — Joseph A. Lynch, 72, of Chestnut St., died Oct. 20 at the Exeter Hospital. He was a former resident of Hampton.

He was born March 31, 1898. He was a retired city assessor and served as chairman of the Board of Assessors in Lawrence, Mass.

Before retiring and moving to Hampton in 1950, he was in real estate.

Mr. Lynch was an honorary life member of the Hampton River Boat Club, and a member of the VFW of Exeter.

Survivors include three daughters, Mrs. Allen G. Palmer of Pembroke, Mrs. Joseph Watson of Andover, Mass., and Mrs. Frank D. Mulcahy, Salisbury Beach, Mass.; two sisters, Mrs. James H. Lydon, Quincy, Mass., and Mrs. Garleth Dacey, Lowell, Mass.; a brother, Cornelius F. Lynch of Lawrence; and 11 grandchildren.

After a Mass of requiem at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church, burial took place in the High Street Cemetery, Hampton.

WWI medals returned to their rightful owner

By Karen Dandurant

Herald Sunday, August 31, 2003

HAMPTON – A Purple Heart and a World War I Victory Medal have been returned to their rightful family, thanks to the very true saying – it’s a small world.

The medals were earned by Joseph A. Lynch, a resident of Hampton until his death in the early ’70s. A series of events put the precious items in the hands of a family that was not his own.

Thirty years later, the medals were offered back to Lynch’s children, who have decided to donate them to a museum at Fort Devins. The family will also donate Lynch’s discharge papers and a letter sent to Lynch from President Richard Nixon.

A New Jersey couple, Tod and Patricia Wentworth Torrence, embarked on the search for the owners of the medals about a year ago. Patricia had inherited them through her mother’s estate.

“My mother’s sister and Joe were keeping company,” Patricia said, guessing that’s how the medals ended up with her family.

A Herald article, printed this past week, was how the family was located.

“My brother-in-law almost fell over when he saw the article,” said Joan Gannon, one of Lynch’s four children. “He was reading the paper online from Florida and couldn’t believe it when he saw whose medals they were.”

Gannon’s brother-in-law, Alan Palmer, is married to Geraldine, another of Lynch’s daughters. Gannon said they are originally from Hampton.

The Torrences picked the perfect place to bring their search. Much of the Lynch family remains in the area. Gannon lives in Rye, and her sister, Justine Mulcahy, lives in Salisbury, Mass.

“And it was from Florida that the news reached us,” Gannon laughed.

It was also about one year ago that Lynch’s children realized the medals were missing and thought about their own search.

“I was talking to my older sister last winter (Geraldine) because she would be the one who would have them,” Gannon said. “She said she thought she had them, but then couldn’t find them. My husband was going to write to a place in Waltham, Mass., for his records, but we hadn’t gotten around to it yet. So, as you can imagine, we were just thrilled. It was so nice of her (Patricia) to take the time to do this.”

Gannon said the family discussed the suggestion to donate the medals, made by the Torrences in the news article. She said they decided that’s what should happen.

“We thought – that’s where they should go rather than sit in a drawer,” Gannon said. “We can see them and others can see them, too. The medals, his papers, will all go to the museum.”

Pat Torrence said she and her husband are very happy to have solved the mystery, and to see the medals go to the Fort Devins museum where they’ll be appreciated.

“Mr. Palmer is going to send the papers to me and we’ll give them to the museum,” Patricia said.

Bert Tompkins, of the Devins Military Museum, said in an earlier interview he would be thrilled to have the medals on display. Without locating the family, he said he couldn’t legally take possession of them.

Editor’s note: Not mentioned in the article above was the library’s part in the story. Library volunteer John Holman recognized the name of one of Lynch’s daughters, Mrs. Allen G. Palmer, upon reading Lynch’s obituary. He realized this was his good friend “Bud” Palmer, who currently lives in Florida. Holman emailed Palmer, who promptly emailed back and got in touch with the Torrences.