A Tale of Two Chemists: Lynn Zemlin

Lynn Zemlin

Wednesday 24 January 2024

We were shocked and deeply saddened to learn this morning that our dear friend Lynn Zemlin suffered a heart attack on Monday morning and died. Lynn was an amazing person and we are devastated to realize that she has gone.

We first met Lynn and her husband Lee Trimble at River Dunes Marina in the autumn of 2012. We had gone in to check out this highly recommended marina, and ended up staying a week as we sheltered from hurricane Sandy. We bumped into Lynn and Lee at the pool and became good friends almost immediately, or to be specific, speaking for myself, it was when I tasted the butternut squash soup that Lynn had cooked for us on our first visit to their boat that I realized this was a serious friendship! As well as being a talented musician and an accomplished pediatric physiotherapist, Lynn was also an incredible cook. Many of our favorite recipes are ones that Lynn has made for us. At that time Lynn and Lee were living aboard their sailboat Serendipity, along with their dog Maggie, and were also heading to the Bahamas. During that winter, as we both headed south, we met up with them again a couple of times in Charleston, SC and then St Augustine, Fl. The following spring we spent a wonderful couple of weeks buddy-boat cruising with them in the Bahamas. In the years that followed, we not only stayed in touch, but our friendship grew. We have great memories of visiting Lynn and Lee in their apartment in Manhattan, and they also came up to stay with us Sudbury. Most recently, last March, we had a fabulous week staying with them in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Lynn was one of the warmest and most interesting people we have ever met. She loved to laugh and had a wicked, irreverent sense of humor. I think that it helped that we all shared similar views on politics and the world in general. She loved to learn new things and we had so many fascinating conversations on any number of topics. Together, Lynn and Lee were an incredible couple. We were always impressed with their energy and imagination in pursuing so many different adventures, from cruising to “dirt-cruising" (car camping) around America; from winters spent in various parts of Mexico, trying to perfect their Spanish, to multi-day canoe camping trips in the Adirondacks. Lynn was far too full of life to pass away so young and our heart goes out to Lee and the rest of her family. We will miss her greatly.

Gloria and Mike