Former Supreme Judicial Court Justice Loses Battle With Cancer

Former Supreme Judicial Court Justice Neil L. Lynch passed away Wednesday after a brave battle with cancer.

Lynch was as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court for 19 years, from 1981 to 2000, and served as chairman of the SJC’s Commission to Study Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts.

“He leaves behind a profound legacy of leadership and devotion to the people of the Commonwealth,” said SJC Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants. “He will be deeply missed.”

Lynch was born on June 26, 1930 and grew up in Bridgewater. He was a former long-time resident of Scituate.

He is survived by his wife Kathleen, three children and two stepchildren.

Lynch graduated from Harvard Law School receiving a L.L.B. degree in 1957 and served as a First Lieutenant Adjutant in the U.S. Air Force.

“A gentleman in every sense, he was beloved by generations of his law clerks and by the staff at the Supreme Judicial Court,” said Margaret H. Marshall, former SJC Chief Justice. “I am immensely saddened by his passing,”

Before his appointment to the bench, Lynch worked at Boston law firms as an associate with Hale, Sanderson, Byrne & Morton from 1957 to 1965 and as an attorney with Herlihy & O’Brien from 1976 to 1977. Lynch served as Chief Legal Counsel to Governor King from 1979 to 1981 and as Chief Legal Counsel to the Massachusetts Port Authority from 1965 to 1976. He worked an adjunct professor at the New England School of Law from 1969 to 1972 and as an associate professor from 1976 to 1978.

After his retirement from the SJC in 2000, Lynch continued to work in law. He was president and dean of the Flaschner Judicial Institute, worked as settlement counsel at the federal court from 2000 to 2008 and taught at the Massachusetts School of Law.

Former Chief Justice Herbert P. Wilkins served with Lynch for 18 years and remembered him as “a congenial friend and team player who held to his principles with integrity.”

A funeral mass service will be held on Monday at 10 a.m. at Resurrection Church, 1057 Main St.

Calling hours are on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the at the McDonald Keohane Funeral Home, 809 Main St. in South Weymouth.

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