LYNG, Pauline Hayden Gorman of Wellesley, MA, March 4, 2020, at the age of 92.
Polly was born in Sackets Harbor, NY, on October 14, 1927, daughter of Maude Collins and Charles Hayden. She graduated as President and Valedictorian of her high school Class of 1944. With self-confidence and a caring perspective, she wrote and delivered a valedictory address titled “The Menace of Racial Tolerance”. In it, she discussed the paradox of soldiers of different skin color fighting together in the war abroad, and then facing discrimination and lack of opportunity at home. Although neither of her parents attended college, she obtained a BS in Physical Education from BU Sargent College and an MS from U of Tennessee. While teaching at Randolph Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, VA, she met James Gorman and married him in 1953. Polly taught and coached girls’ sports at Wellesley and Needham middle schools. Then, while raising 3 young children and teaching full time, she obtained a second MS and pursued a new career in guidance in Norwood schools until she retired.
After her husband James died in 1999, she reunited with her widowed high school sweet heart Alfred Lyng. They were married in Wellesley at Saint Paul Parish, and spent 14 happy years residing in Wellesley, Campbell’s Point, NY and Marco Island, FL until Al’s death in 2018.
Because of her own passion for skiing, hiking, swimming and athletics, Polly taught her children to enjoy and excel in sports and outdoor activities. This passion has been passed on to her grandchildren as part of her legacy. Polly was an active member of the Old Colony Ski Club where she enjoyed many friends, activities and social events. She also loved bridge, which she played for over 50 years with close friends in her women’s bridge club, and with her second husband Al. In 1974, she and her husband James purchased a cottage near Sackets Harbor at Campbell’s Point, which provided a close-knit community of life-long friends in which she thrived with her family. Everywhere she went Polly was known as sweet, friendly, and hard-working. In 2019, she established the Pauline and Alfred Lyng Scholarship, awarded annually to a graduating senior at Sackets Harbor High School, with preference for students whose parents had not attended college, as had been true for Polly and Al.
She is survived by her three children Karen Bostwick, Wellesley, MA, James Gorman (Annette Pein), Wellesley MA, and Charles Gorman (Elizabeth), Natick, MA. She is also survived by her 5 grandchildren: Brian Bostwick, and Alexandra, Vera, Victoria, and Juliana Gorman. She was predeceased by her older brother Robert Hayden.
Funeral Mass on Tuesday, March 10th, in St. Paul Church, Wellesley at 11:00 am, followed by a memorial brunch at the church community center. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Visiting hours Monday, March 9th, 5-8pm at the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, 477 Washington St. Wellesley. Expressions of sympathy may include a donation to the Northern New York Community Foundation, 131 Washington St., Watertown, NY 13601, designated for the Pauline and Alfred Lyng Scholarship.