Ethel Lynn Radford

Ethel Lynn Radford, 92, died peacefully in her sleep of complications from the Covid-19 virus on May 27, 2020 at Bayside Health and Rehabilitation Center in Pensacola, Florida. Ethel Mae (Zellner) Radford was born on December 11, 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania. While in high school, she was part of "the battle fought on the home front" by working in a plant that processed meat for the soldiers' combat rations. She used part of her earnings to pay for tap dancing lessons and was soon performing around the area with a dance troupe. After graduating from high school in 1945, she earned a business college degree in secretarial proficiencies. She moved to Washington, DC and worked for the Department of the Navy as a stenographer. There, in 1949, she met and married George W. Lynn, a WWII veteran and career Navy man. After he retired in 1957, they moved to Pensacola where she lived for most of her life, raising their family of four children. She worked for a number of years as a secretary and administrative assistant at Chemstrand/Monsanto and later as an administrative assistant at the University of West Florida. She was especially noted for her fierce love of and endless support for her children and extended family. Also, she had an intense interest in environmental issues, current events, and politics. She was proud of having marched for the ERA in Tallahassee (1974), and for being a member of the American Rosie the Riveter Association of women who worked in industries supporting the war effort during WWII. She had a life-long love of music and dance. George and Ethel were wonderful ballroom dancers, an activity they enjoyed frequently until his death in 1987. She then revived her tap-dancing talent, performing with a group of "seasoned dancers" like herself, who still had what it takes. In 2000, after reconnecting on the Monsanto Retirees website, she married Richard "Dick" Radford, a WWII Army combat veteran and a research physicist at Monsanto. They lived together happily for six years in Georgia until his death in 2006. Ethel Radford is survived by her four children, George, Shari, Andy, and Greg; her seven grandchildren, Nic, Aziza, Claire, Josh, Victoria, Jacob, and Aidan; her eight great-grandchildren, Hayden, Destini, Noah, Savannah, Asher, Max, Olivia, and Madeline; her three step-children, Richard, James and Susan; and her four step-grandchildren, Ryan, Reed, Erica and Daniel. She is also survived by her sister, Elizabeth "Betty" Lydard, sister-in-law, Elizabeth "Betty" Zellner, and many nieces and nephews she loved. She will be cremated and interred with her husband Dick at the Georgia National Cemetery at a date to be determined. Due to the current pandemic, there will be no service or funeral. Memorials are suggested to the Sierra Club.

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Ethel Lynn Radford

December 11, 1927 - May 27, 2020