by Jill Ragar Esfeld
jill.esfeld@theleaven.org
LEAWOOD — “There has been a tragic event in my family,” read the November 2022 GoFundMe entry. “My grandchildren lost their mother in a car accident in 2020.
“Now, their dad passed away tonight due to complications from a severe asthma attack.”
Thus began the journey of Marilyn Lynch, a successful Kansas City actress with an extensive body of theater work, who had just turned 72 and was ready to enjoy a life of leisure.
Lynch had sold her large family home because she wanted something she could “have clean in an hour and go out feet first.”
“So, I bought the smallest thing I could find,” she said.
When her son-in-law died, he left behind four children — Michael, 13; Jason, 11; Genevieve, 9; and Alaina, 7.
There was no will and no insurance money.
“I will raise them, of course,” said Lynch at the time, “as my daughter would have wanted.”
The four children left their home in Michigan and traveled to the open and welcoming arms of their grandmother.
In her tiny retirement house.
“I was not set up, nor was this house set up, for five people,” said Lynch.
What the house did have was an unfinished basement.
And what Lynch had was a Catholic network spanning back to grade school that was ready to lend a hand.
The Grandma project
Lynch grew up across the street from Bill Oades, a Church of the Nativity, Leawood, parishioner, and went to Visitation School in Kansas City, Missouri, with Oades and his wife Peggy.
When a performance was organized to raise funds to renovate Lynch’s basement, Visitation alumni spread the word and the Oades attended.
“This is a grandmother who was living her life of retirement,” said Oades. “We’re all classmates of hers and we’re in disbelief that this need arose and she answered.
“Our prayers now are for a long life for Marilyn.”
The fundraiser helped purchase materials, and Lynch had a friend who was a contractor willing to donate his labor.
He started the work in good faith but was plagued by misfortune.
“Well, every bad thing that could happen to him happened and he almost lost his business,” said Lynch.
The basement renovation was abandoned and Lynch’s grandchildren, once again, felt abandoned, too.
“I’d promised them these bedrooms,” she said. “They were thinking, ‘Can’t we trust anybody? Isn’t anything going to go our way?’”
Bob the builder
When Lynch ran into Oades again, he asked how things were going.
“Well, they’re not,” she said.
Oades told Lynch he would reach out to a contractor friend in his parish.
“That’s how Robert Massey came into the picture,” said Lynch, “just a lovely, incredible gentleman.”
Massey, a residential construction contractor, had been praying for such a project.
Known for his excellent work, Massey was often asked to do projects gratis. But they rarely satisfied his desire to be charitable.
“There are a lot of people who want,” he explained. “I don’t really want to help those people. I had been praying to get a project that I could give a hand up instead of just handouts.
“I’d rather use my abilities to help someone who is really in need.”
Then Massey met Lynch.
“She told me what happened with the kids’ parents,” he said. “Those kids were in need.
“I think God answered my prayer.”
Massey offered to do his work free of charge, and once the word spread at Church of the Nativity, more help followed.
Many people offered to do construction work at discounted prices. Those who weren’t in construction did what they could to help.
“We had five volunteers go to Menards because there was so much drywall we needed,” said Massey. “We needed five pickup trucks to get it all.
“People have just come out of the woodwork to help.”
Lives saved
In the end, the basement was renovated to include two small bedrooms, a bathroom, closet space and a small common area — plus, a laundry room.
“They built the most spectacular living spaces for my grandsons downstairs,” said Lynch. “They are happy little campers.
“You cannot believe how life-changing this has been for them.”
The grandsons will live downstairs and an extra bedroom and sitting room will accommodate the granddaughters upstairs.
Now with room to grow, the children are beginning to thrive.
Lynch is thankful for her renovations, but even more thankful for the example the volunteers have given her grandchildren.
“My hope for them is that they grow up to be decent human beings, in service to the community,” she said.
As a professional performer, Lynch is rarely at a loss for words, but she has a hard time expressing her admiration for Massey.
“Robert is a gallant man and a kind man, extremely talented, very creative,” she said. “There just aren’t enough wonderful words to describe him. I don’t have enough adjectives.
“I feel very lucky and very blessed.”
Massey is grateful he was able to help someone truly in need.
“That is what my faith is to me,” he said. “It’s doing God’s work. He gave me this talent — I can’t bury my talent as he said, right?”
Oades is thankful Church of the Nativity parishioners were able to share their good fortune with this family in need.
“We are so blessed in Johnson County with so much wealth,” he said. “It’s just a thing of beauty what happened here.
“This is true Catholic charity.”
Lynch agrees and is happy to get the word out.
“You always hear the nasty stuff on the news,” she said. “But why don’t you hear about this stuff?
“This is huge. They saved four children’s lives. Saved their lives!”
How to help
For more information on the Marilyn Lynch family or to help her financially, visit the GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-grandchildren-just-lost-both-of-their-parents.
