Loving friend and local printer “Lynn” Evelyn Mae Berry, died March 13, 2023 at Saint Joseph Hospital in Nashua after a brief illness, aged 91 years. Lynn was born in Barre, Vermont on December 25, 1931, daughter of the late Ruth Amelia (Eldred) and Edmond Berry. After her mother passed away when Lynn was three years old, she was raised by her aunt and uncle Elmira and Dona Guillotte in North Oxford, Massachusetts. During World War Two, the family moved to Worcester where they lived near Kelly Square.
While in school in the 1940’s, Lynn decided she wanted to enter the printing trade but the only program available was at the Worcester Boys Trade High School which prohibited girls. Refusing to accept no for an answer, she continued to appeal to school officials until they finally admitted her as the first female student where she graduated in 1949. Her first job out of high school was working for the Lithuanian newspaper in Worcester where she honed her printing skills in the pre-digital linotype process. Always staying busy, Lynn also worked in a number of other male-dominated positions over the years including at a car wash in Worcester, running a filling station in Lowell, and assisting researchers at the Charles River Laboratories in Wilmington.
Early on in her life, Lynn was very open with her alternative orientation and over the years discovered kindred spirits in the LGBTQ communities of Worcester and Lowell. She found her real “home” at the Moody Gardens club in Lowell where during the 1950s and ‘60s she and others created a safe place to just be themselves and find friendship and love. After dating a few people, when Lynn met Harvard-educated Joan Andrea they became a long term couple and the two ran their own business, Tri Flag Press on Main Street in Nashua for several years. After Joan passed away in 2004, Lynn continued the operation out of her home and was known as a perfectionist.
Despite opposition from some against same-sex relationships, the Catholic Church openly welcomed her to participate in Mass where she cherished the highest level of spirituality, always attending weekly services and the Rosary group prayer gatherings. Never one to “take it easy” Lynn could be found keeping busy fixing things around the house, growing a garden, fishing in her back yard along the Nashua River, and learning new ways to use the computer. While Lynn will be remembered as often being determined in her bearing with others, she was also quick to forgive and to ask for forgiveness.
She is survived by many dear friends including Theresa Cummins, Maria DiCiccio, Barbara Uran, Thomas and Theresa Richard, John and Mary Mann, Scott Crowell, Father John Grace and the staff of the Parish of the Resurrection in Nashua, her neighbors at the River Pines community, and Sivmouy Chhiv and Mehmed Ali of Montgomery, Alabama. The community is invited to her funeral services on Monday, March 27th at 10:00 am at the Parish of the Resurrection, 449 Broad Street in Nashua. She will be buried next to her partner Joan at the Saint Louis De Gonzague Cemetery on West Hollis Road in Nashua. To leave an online message of condolence, please visit www.farwellfuneralservice.com Arrangements are in the care of the FARWELL FUNERAL SERVICE, 18 Lock Street, Nashua.
