Adrienne Reynolds Lybarger, after 94 full and vibrant years, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, August 29, 2020. Finishing a brief battle with cancer, she passed away surrounded by the comfort of her loved ones. 

Born in Boston on March 8, 1926, Adrienne was the only beloved daughter of the late Joseph Anthony and Albertine Mouton Drevet Reynolds. She spent her childhood years in the coastal town of Marblehead and among the brick townhomes of Brookline, Massachusetts. 

Adrienne was a woman ahead of her time by every measure. Evidence of her fearlessness can be found early in life: in the ’40s, she was a steamboat deckhand in Casco Bay, Maine, a typically unwelcoming job for a woman; but Adrienne thrived there, reveling in her deep connection to the sea. Perhaps braver was her decision to pursue tertiary education across the country: she caught a train alone from Boston, Massachusetts to attend Mills College in Oakland, California while World War II raged on. Graduating in 1947 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and French, with a minor in Spanish, there was no International Relations career to be had for a woman, not even for a National Merit Scholar such as Adrienne. Undeterred, Adrienne pursued a career anyway, earning an additional certificate from the Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in 1948.  

And have a career she did. Adrienne’s professional life was marked by her uncanny ability to enable others to reach their potential, her intense work ethic, and her determination to break new ground. As an assistant at MIT, she provided special event coordination to actualize Winston Churchill’s convocation address. As a fundraiser, she directed funds into the budgets of colleges, nonprofits, and hospitals such as MIT, Ithaca College, the YMCA, and Archbold Hospital in Georgia. At Wells College, she served as the Vice President for Development for many years. It was while she held this role that Marquis’ Who’s Who recognized her as a Noteworthy College Administrator. 

Her career also brought her great love. Adrienne met Lee Francis “Frank” Lybarger, Jr. when they worked alongside each other in educational fundraising. Together, Adrienne and Frank built a busy and vibrant home. They brought eight children into the world in three homes: Long Branch, Quaker Hill, and Adrienne’s beloved King’s Manor. It was also Adrienne’s trademark competitiveness with Frank that would lead them into real estate for Weichert Realtors in Clinton, New Jersey. 

Adrienne’s world was not without heartache. Three of her children passed away in childhood: Jeffrey, James and Leslie. Frank and Albertine followed in the early ’80s. In the face of catastrophic loss, Adrienne was tenacious and unshakable. She knew great pain, but she also knew professional passion, stubborn optimism, and dogged perseverance. She chose the latter.  

Adrienne finished her career in the early ’90s, right around the time she was welcoming her first grandchildren. Never without a project, Adrienne’s retired life was enlivened by a newfound love of running. She finished her first marathon at Sandy Hook Beach at 75, and her second in Anchorage, Alaska at 80. She was a local favorite in Flemington, New Jersey’s annual Turkey Trot, priding herself in her yearly age-category wins. In November 2019, she won her category yet again at age 93. Even in her final months, Adrienne could still be found on walks to visit her beloved neighborhood cat, Wonton, a daily excursion she couldn’t miss. She was planning her next marathon, which she hoped would be a return home to run the Boston Marathon. 

Her last decade brought Adrienne closer to faith than ever before. After being baptized in the Jordan River, she became a treasured friend and honorary board member of her local church, the Clinton Church of the Nazarene. She held many biblical passages close to her heart, but none more than 1 Corinthians 13:13: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.  

Adrienne lived her life fully, on her own terms. She was strong, stubborn, vivacious, and a natural socialite. This is her legacy, which will guide those who loved her until we are all reunited in that mansion promised in John 14:2. 

Surviving are her children, Linda Lybarger Gardner and Frank “Skip” Gardner, Lauretta and Gerard Market, Lisa Lenore Lybarger, Lucia Lybarger Byron and Daniel Byron, and Lana Lybarger Marsh and Damien Marsh; her grandchildren, Bradley, Julianna, Amy, Lindsey, Hunter, Meghan, and Marissa; her great grandson, Shain; her immediate family; and many dear friends. 

Family and friends will be received on Wednesday, September 02, 2020 from 4:00-7:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ 08822.

*Please note: there is a limitation to the number of people inside the funeral home at any one time so please follow all instructions of the Wright & Ford Care Team Family Ambassadors upon arrival. Social distancing must be maintained and masks must be worn at all times while on funeral home property. There will be continual cleaning and sanitizing of the funeral home as the day proceeds to ensure the safety of all guests.

A Celebration of Life co-officiated by Rev. Scott A Kovalcik, and Rev. Lauretta Market, Adrienne’s daughter, will take place on Thursday, September 03, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. at Clinton Church of the Nazarene, 80 Beaver Avenue, Clinton, NJ, under the care and direction of Wright & Ford. Everyone is kindly asked to meet directly at the church on Thursday morning beginning at 10:00 a.m.. For those unable to attend, the service will be live-streamed via zoom at the link appearing at the end of this life story.

Burial next to her beloved husband and children at Locust Grove Cemetery, Quakertown, NJ, will be private for immediate family only following the service.

Please visit Adrienne’s permanent memorial site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a memorial candle, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in her honor may be made to the Clinton Church of the Nazarene, 80 Beaver Avenue, Clinton, NJ 08809 or online by clicking HERE or to the Birch Island Corporation, c/o Jeff Culbertson – Treasurer, 33 Webster Road, East Milton, MA 02186.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”

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FUNERAL SERVICE ZOOM LINK:

Topic: Adrienne Reynolds Lybarger Life Celebration
Time: Sep 3, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

(note: service will begin at 10:30 a.m.—the earlier start is to ensure that you can connect to the meeting)

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