Lynne Eggers

Lynne Eggers died on May 17, 2022, of metastatic cancer. She remained in the comfort of her home through the loving care of her partner, Sally Abrams, and a circle of devoted friends. She leaves a half-sister and many friends from around the U.S. and the world. Born in Nebraska and adopted at six-months, Lynne was raised on a farm near Yutan by loving parents Herman and Frances Swanson Eggers. Both Lynne and her brother George, also adopted, loved their home and farm life. Among the values Lynne learned were honesty, responsibility and the value of hard work. After high school, Lynne graduated from Immanuel School of Nursing in Omaha.

Choosing mental health nursing as her specialty, Lynne moved to San Francisco in 1967, during a time of great social and cultural change. She earned a B.A. from New College of San Francisco and a Master of Social Work from San Francisco State University. She worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health in Community Mental Health for many years. At age 60, Lynne retired to travel more, create art and explore music.

Art was Lynne's passion—she created it, admired it in museums, galleries and studios and supported local artists. She was a prolific creator of stained glass, metal and wood sculptures, jewelry, encaustic collages and especially boxed assemblages. Travel also called to Lynne, and she explored Europe, Turkey, Israel, Indonesia and India, to name a few of her destinations. She was an avid walker and, even while ill, took advantage of San Francisco's "slow streets" developed during the pandemic. She enjoyed taking photos of intriguing subjects during her walks, another of her artistic expressions.

Lynne was generous to friends and charities alike. She supported organizations that helped people, preserved the environment, conserved land, fought racism, and defended women's and LGBTQ rights.

By far, her most noteworthy contribution was the donation of her beloved farm to the Nebraska Land Trust that permanently conserved the land as farmland. Further, the sale of the farm created an endowment that will support NLT's work in Nebraska for years to come. But other organizations also benefitted from Lynne’s incredible selflessness, Project Open Hand among them, and we are honored to provide this space for tribute to a life incredibly well lived.

Lynne is survived by her life partner, Sally Abrams, and many close friends. Lynne had a talent for maintaining lifelong friendships that were tended as carefully as her farmland. She will be remembered for her loyalty, generosity, laughter and commitment to social justice.

“Lynne felt it was important to support groups that helped create a better world.” Abrams said. “She donated a significant portion of her income during her lifetime and left a large portion of her estate to organizations such as Project Open Hand.”

Lynne began supporting Project Open Hand in 1988 and gave consistently for the rest of her life. We are so touched by Lynne's gift to us through her living trust and honored to carry her legacy forward as part of our own.

If you would like to learn more about our legacy giving options, please reach out to Barbara Camacho at bcamacho@openhand.org.