Ed and Dollie Lynch Grew Community with Care

When Ed and Dollie Lynch moved to Vancouver in 1957, they found a place to call home. Southwest Washington’s natural beauty and rich history seemed like a glorious garden, and they soon joined in tending the grounds through various charitable endeavors.

Much like the garden at their Franklin Street home, where Ed trained a beloved Ginko tree and Dollie grew her prized ornamentals, they each contributed their respective strengths to the community. Dollie took on the heart work, rolling up her sleeves to nurture local youth and help causes like Camp Fire blossom. After retiring from a career in engineering, Ed drew up his own master plan and began planting, growing and shaping countless organizations, including The Historic Trust and Leadership Clark County.

Early on, they recognized that sustained funding was essential to a thriving nonprofit sector and got behind a growing effort to establish the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. The idea of a local philanthropic engine designed to inspire giving “from the community, for the community” resonated with their belief that many hands make light work.

In 1985, Ed and Dollie provided a $20,000 seed gift to establish the Community Foundation's Administrative Endowment. Then, they spurred its growth with an $80,000 challenge match that inspired others to pitch in. The endowment grew into the financial backbone of the Community Foundation, generating ongoing support for its mission and making a lasting difference across the entire nonprofit community.

Give to the Administrative Endowment →

In their later years, Ed and Dollie continued to give selflessly, contributing millions to projects like the preservation of the Providence Academy and building a therapeutic garden at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center—complete with rhododendrons transplanted from Dollie’s personal collection.

The list of nonprofits they supported over their six decades of service is long, but Ed and Dollie ensured each would continue to find sustained support by planning one final gift. Working with the Community Foundation, they directed 99% of their estate into the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund. Today, this fund provides millions in annual grants that nurture and strengthen local causes.

In addition, they underpinned the Community Foundation’s mission by earmarking $3 million for the Administrative Endowment. This transformative gift ensures their glorious garden will never fade away by sustaining the foundation’s efforts to grow giving, nurture nonprofits and build a better southwest Washington.

Ed and Dollie Lynch’s philanthropic legacy is something to admire as it continues to blossom, and it reminds us of what's possible when we tend to our community with care and effort. Like the Ginko tree still standing on Franklin Street, their lasting gift symbolizes the hope, resilience and love Ed and Dollie brought to southwest Washington.