In Memory

Tonetta Lynne "Lynn" Spence (Gylling)

Tonetta Lynne Lynn Spence (Gylling)

Tonetta Lynn Gylling

( May 17, 1945 - December 05, 2017 )

Lynn Spence (1945 - 2017)
Tonetta Lynn “Lynn” Spence, was born in Dighton, Kansas to Leonard Woodly and Lula Frances (Zahnter) Spence on Thursday, May 17, 1945. She passed peacefully on December 5, 2017. Lynn graduated from Dodge City High School in 1963. She was married on June 28, 1964 in Dodge City to Gene Leroy Mahan. A year later in 1965, the young couple had their first child, named Darren Lee Mahan. On Christmas day 1967, they welcomed their second child, Brian Leslie Mahan. The family made their home in Golden, Colorado in 1971.  For the next few decades, Lynn spent most of her time making sure those boys grew into respectable young men; she succeeded as both would eventually serve honorably in operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, Darren with the United States Navy and Brian with the United States Air Force.

Lynn’s union with Gene was to last 17 years until 1981. Up until that time, Lynn had been solely focused on being a caring mother to her sons. The challenges of re-entering the workforce as a homemaker in the early Eighties were many. However, these obstacles were no match for Lynn’s characteristic, quiet determination and strong work ethic, and she was almost immediately employed in a audio speaker factory.

Sometime in the next year, she was to meet the love of her lifetime and his, Dwight Gene Gylling. Some contemporaries of the early courtship can recall when Lynn found Dwight to be, and this is paraphrasing, rather boisterous. Of course, those who knew Dwight and his beloved “Gylling” (as he called Lynn) would know that she could not long spurn his advances, and the couple were married on July 3, 1982. From then on they were inseparable.

Not content with just raising two young men, Lynn worked for over 25 years in the mortgage and loan industry, and retired from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) in 2006. As a coworker, she was known to be highly dependable and hard-working but first and foremost, she was appreciated as a friend.

Perhaps the only sin in an otherwise Christian life, Lynn enjoyed taking money from any casino where she and Dwight could find a machine as generous as themselves. Sometimes the winnings from these ventures would fund Lynn’s shopping and dining with her good friends. One year at Christmas, she took her winnings and gave a huge dinner party at a lodge for her family.  If you listen with the right ears, you can almost hear her giving humorous commentary in her trademark mumble and head shake. Truly a rock of support and a shoulder to lean on, she could be counted on and counted, as a friend and a loyal family member to many. She was kind to a fault and yet never faltered when she or those around her were handed one of life’s misfortunes. She was an independent woman before the term existed, but she was equally comfortable being a devoted wife whose loyalty and love knew no limit.

She was loved as a mom, respected as a mother, cherished as a wife, adored as a sister, daughter, grandma, great-grandma, and aunt, and a trusted colleague to many. She will be missed by her two sons Darren and Brian (Shawna), her step-daughter Michelle (Carey), grandchildren, Sara, Jason, Owen, Violet, Cole, Brady, Elizabeth and Jedidiah; great grandchildren Raiden and Odette, her sister Janet (Duane) Spiker, her brothers Patrick (Lena) Spence and Donald (Kathleen) Spence, and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Lynn was preceded in death by her husband Dwight, her parents Leonard and Lula, her sisters Mary, Lenna, Lida, Phyllis, and Kay, and her brothers Woody and Tom. 

Lynn loved her family and her family loved her just as much.

Funeral Service is scheduled for Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Tabor-Rice Funeral Home, Brighton, Colorado.  Interment will follow at Elmwood Cemetery, Brighton.

Tabor-Rice Funeral Home handled arrangements.

 

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