Nan K (Blanchard) Lynch

Nan K. Lynch, 64, of Guilderland, passed peacefully at home on Friday, January 8, 2016. Nan was born December 27, 1951 to the late Donald A. Blanchard and Joan (Donohue) Blanchard.She graduated third in her class from Cheshire High School in Connecticut in June, 1970 and received a BA from the University of Connecticut, in Storrs in May, 1974.Nan initially worked as a travel agent in Hartford, CT. She married Gerald L. Lynch, Jr. in August, 1977, after which she continued working in the travel business in Manchester, NH.Their first and only surviving child, Gerald L. Lynch III, was born in Concord, NH in May, 1980.Following the family's move to the Albany area in January, 1982, a daughter, Anoria Kathleen Lynch, was born but died as an infant in March, 1983.Nan was a full-time Mom for many years, after which she worked in various part-time teaching assistant positions in the Guilderland School district, as a nanny, and as a volunteer, rocking babies in the Neonatal ICU of Albany Medical Center.When she could no longer safely hold infants, she worked at the snack shop at what is now the South Campus of Albany Medical Center.Nan has been a communicant at St. Madeleine Sophie Church for more than 30 years. In addition to her widower and son, Nan is survived by two sisters-- Joan (Blanchard) Coleman of Guilderland, NY and Ellen Mary (Blanchard) Finlay (Christopher William) of Uxbridge, MA , one brother-- Donald A. Blanchard of Foxboro, MA, two parents-in-law-- Gerald L. Lynch and Dorothy (Meehan) Lynch of West Babylon, NY,two sisters-in-law-- Patricia (Lynch) McGrath of West Palm Beach, FL and Susan (Lynch) Fryc (Robert) of Warwick, RI, another brother-in-law--James Meehan Lynch (Elizabeth) of Cold Spring Harbor, NY, five nieces and nephews, numerous cousins-,aunts-, and uncles-in-law, three godchildren, and numerous young adults that she cared for years ago as a nanny. Nan suffered for many years from the debilitating effects of Type 1 Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy, which she first started to experience in the mid-1970s.The number and severity of the symptoms increased steadily but gradually over many years.She ultimately succumbed to them while being cared for by her husband and others at home. In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions in Nan's name to any of the following:(1) the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105; (2) St. Madeleine Sophie Church, 3500 Carmen Road, Schenectady, NY 12303; or (3) the Muscular Dystrophy Association, 3330 East Sunrise Drive, Tucson, Arizona 85718. Calling hours will be held on Wednesday evening from 6-8 pm at the DeMarco-Stone Funeral Home, 5216 Western Tpk. (Rt. 20) in Guilderland. Funeral services will begin on Thursday, 9:15 from the funeral home followed at 10 am by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Madeleine-Sophie Church, 3500 Carman Rd. Burial will be on Friday at St. John's Cemetery, Middle Village, NY.