Hugh M. Lynch III ’64

Hugh died Sept. 8, 2023, after an extended battle with Alzheimer’s.

At Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Md., Hugh captained the football and tennis teams while also playing basketball in the winter and occasionally running track in the spring. At the start of his senior year, he upset the up-and-coming Arthur Ashe to win the Eastern Junior Tennis Championship at Queens’ West Side Tennis Club, and in 1961 he and his father, Hugh ’34, won the national father-son tennis title. At Princeton, Hugh joined Tiger Inn and majored in politics, presciently doing his thesis on the effect of television on the 1960 presidential election. Playing both singles and doubles, he contributed to the men’s tennis team’s extraordinary winning streak of 45 consecutive team matches.

After graduation, Hugh began a 40-plus year career as a secondary school teacher and coach in Montgomery County, Md. He took pride in his ability to teach almost any subject, early on teaching mainly history and later mostly physics. In the classroom, students looked forward to his entertaining style, which balanced wit and self-deprecation with expertise. Outside the classroom, Hugh coached numerous Maryland state tennis champions, including his three sons.

Hugh is survived by his wife of 38 years, Linda, and their children, Brendan and Reagan ’11; by his first wife, Katy, and their children, Jennifer and Hugh IV ’90; and by five grandchildren, including Liam ’21.