Lynn Sengstack, educational music industry leader and well-known equestrian, died in her Ottsville, PA home on Sunday, December 9, 2007 of colon cancer. She was 53. She was well-loved and will be missed very much.
Lynn was born in Evanston, IL, July 25, 1954. She earned a BS in Business from Bucknell University and an MBA from Rider College. After college, she handled corporate finance and agro-chemical marketing for Rhône-Poulenc. She later became marketing manager of her father’s educational music publishing firm, Summy-Birchard Co. After that company’s acquisition by Warner Brothers in 1988, she became vice-president and oversaw the entire division’s activities. In 1995, she became vice president of Shawnee Press, a world leader in choral music. While there, she grew the company, made it profitable, and helped it earn a stronger presence in the music industry.
In 2001, she became general manager of Music Together, an early-childhood educational company started by her cousin. She remained in that position until taking a leave of absence due to her declining health.
Lynn played a prominent role in the music industry, serving on the executive board of the Music Industry Council and as president, treasurer and board member of the Music Publishers Association of the United States. In November 2007 the MPA granted their first-ever lifetime achievement award to Lynn for giving “so much of herself to the industry.”
Lynn had a love for horses that began in her childhood with pony clubs and parades. She later bred and trained her own horses, competed in eventing and amateur-owner divisions, and enjoyed fox hunting. Lynn is well known in the horse community and loved by all who came in contact with her. When her cancer precluded her from riding, she started a new avocation as a horseshow judge.
Lynn is survived by her father David Sengstack of New Brunswick, NJ, her mother Anita “Brownie” French of New Bern, NC, and her brothers Jeff Sengstack of Santa Rosa, CA and Gregg Sengstack of Ft. Wayne, IN.
Lynn’s family will receive friends from 9:00 AM until her Memorial Gathering at 10:00 AM on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at the Joseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home, 241 E. Butler Ave. (Route 202 and Sandy Ridge Rd.) New Britain, PA 18901.
In lieu of flowers, Lynn requested that donations be made to the Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Ave. Philadelphia PA 19111.