Mae M Lynch

Mae M. Lynch passed away peacefully at home in Prewitt on March 31, with family and loved ones in her presence during her final days. She was 80 years old.

Mae—better known to family as “Mom Mae” or “Grandma Mae”—was born at Bluewater Lake on May 10, 1945, and was raised alongside her siblings in nearby Bluewater Village.

She later lived in Oakland, California and worked in industrial transportation before moving back home to the Navajo Nation. She raised a family in Window Rock and Sanders, Arizona before moving back to Prewitt.

She was an excellent self-taught seamstress, and over the years was often asked to make traditional Navajo skirts, shirts, blouses and other clothes for relatives to wear for ceremonies or celebrations. Her family also counted on her guidance and historical knowledge concerning Diné protocol for ritual songs and ceremonies. In fact, her family lost count as to the number of times Grandma Mae was asked the honor of performing the traditional hair-tying for young Diné women going through the kinaaldá ceremony.

More than almost anything else, she loved all the children in her family, and enjoyed great relationships with her dozens of nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

Mae was born of the Tsé Nahabiłnii clan, and born into the Áshįįhnii clan. Her maternal grandfather’s first clan was Táchii’nii, and her paternal grandmother’s first clan was Tó Baazhní’ázhí.

She is survived by her sons, Larryl Lynch and Marcus Lynch, and her stepsons, Richard Lynch and Ray Lynch, as well as several grandchildren: Marisa Lynch, Gabriel Malaney Lynch, Devon Lynch, Allison Lynch, Ashton Lynch, Justin Lynch, Jessica Lynch, and Joshua Lynch.

She was proceeded in death by her husband, Richard B. Lynch; her daughter, Dawn Lynch; her grandson, Andrew Lynch; her granddaughter, Samantha Lynch; her father, Paddy Martinez; and her mother, Flora Martinez.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2026 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 1010 Bonded Ave. in Grants, NM, followed by interment at Grants Memorial Park. There will be a reception at the LDS Church following burial.