NACo Past President Lynch dies in Douglas County, Neb.

In this undated photo, NACo President Daniel Lynch greets  President Jimmy Carter. County News archives

NACo Past President Lynch spent four decades in public service in Nebraska

Daniel Lynch, a former Douglas County, Neb. commissioner who served as NACo president from 1976–1977, died March 17 at the age of 86.

He served on the Douglas County Board of Commissioners between 1960 and 1981, then won four terms in the state Senate, where his enduring legislative achievement was the state’s mandatory helmet law for motorcyclists. The Omaha World-Herald reported that an effort to repeal that law failed the same day that Lynch died.

Lynch also spent a year as president of the Nebraska Association of County Officials in 1969.

“He really got involved, nationally with NACo, but he also put NACo on the map in Nebraska,” said Jerry Leahy, director of Douglas County’s public properties.

Lynch was an Omaha native who left only to attend Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, then came back to start his career, initially as a plumber. He was later vice president of consumer affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.

 “He was always very jovial, kind person,” Leahy said. “He was trustworthy, and in a very conservative state, supported leadership opportunities for women and minorities.”

Douglas County Commissioner Mary Ann Boregson also remembered him as a champion for the elderly, and people with developmental disabilities and behavioral health issues.

State association Executive Director Larry Dix worked with Lynch when the latter was in the state Senate.

 “He was quite a character,” Dix said. “He was engaged in legislative business, but made sure debate wrapped up so they could adjourn in time for his tee time. He loved playing golf.

“He just led a happy life. He was just happy all the time, it was contagious.”

Lynch was active in local theater, and that enthusiasm for performing bled into other parts of his life.

“He was an entertainer, that was part of his personality,” Leahy said, “That wasn’t just him being Irish.”

Since former Davis County, Utah Commissioner Stanley Smoot’s 2012 death, Lynch had been the earliest-tenured surviving NACo past president.

He is survived by his son, Daniel Lynch, Jr., and daughters Debra LeMay, Julie Freeman, Marianne Mathena and Maureen Burkiser, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.