The creative energy fueled light that was Patricia Lynn McNairy (Etter) dimmed on December 21 with her death at home surrounded by family and devoted canines Lobo and Goya.
Lynn was a second generation San Marino resident whose paternal grandfather, WK Etter, was vice president of the Santa Fe Railroad. The family, including her father, Lewis Fort, settled in Los Angeles. Her father graduated from Caltech and subsequently embarked on a career with railroad equipment supplier PreCo., later establishing his own company in Azusa, CA.
Lynn attended San Marino schools and the family spent cherished summer months at their home on Lido Isle in Newport Beach, where the Etter family hot dog roasts were a much anticipated event among its summer residents.
Lynn attended Stevens College before graduating USC and obtaining a secondary teachers certificate. Following marriage to USC classmate and Investment Manager Dreux McNairy, the couple settled in San Marino to raise sons Ryan and Sean. Lynn’s lifelong involvement in art included teaching, fashion illustration, painting and continuing study in a variety of artistic media. Lynn is pre-deceased by brother Michael and their parents. She is survived by her husband, Dreux, sister, Michele Hansen (Peter) of Hillsborough, CA, and sons Ryan and Sean, both of Los Angeles.
She was immensely proud of both her sons’ accomplishments, Ryan as a stock portfolio manager and Sean having his own furniture design and art business.
Lynn was an authentic artist and even taught in the field. Her expressions were primarily on canvas, and executed diversely using unconditional, sometimes extreme and provocative abstract methods. Some of her most noted creations included sketch drawings of nude human bodies, intense magnification paintings of faces, sea reef formations and other both beautiful and challenging objects. When not demonstrating her artistic perspective on canvas, she would volunteer to create her son’s sport teams flag, or original T-shirt logos, blending her artistic talent and love for her boys.
Inheriting an appreciation for antique furniture from her Mother, Lynn and Dreux collected both fine art and antiques together. Spending many a day at the famous Port De Clignancourt, Paris’ weekly bazaar, negotiating a deal, she even was christened “Commo” as her French name. Lynn and Dreux also enjoyed a special affinity for the Surf & Sand in Laguna Beach, spending many a weekend together overlooking the Pacific.
