Biography

Mr. Michael Edward Lynn, III, 76, died Saturday July 21, 2012 at Baptist Memorial Hospital North Mississippi in Oxford. Funeral services will be held in Oxford, MS on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 11:00 A.M. at First Presbyterian Church with Rev. John Semmes officiating. Visitation will be Tuesday, July 24, 2012 from 5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. at Waller Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life will be held on August 8th at 4 P.M. at the Wayzata Community Church in Wayzata, MN with a reception following at the Lafayette Club.

Born in Scranton, PA, Mr. Lynn served as a Private First Class in the United States Army. Mike’s entire career centered around the entertainment industry. He started out as a protégée of Walter Reade, the renowned theater impresario in New Jersey. Upon Mr. Reade’s untimely death, Mike moved to Memphis in 1961 to work for Malco theaters. He then became a manager for Dixiemart, which is when he met his wife Jorja to whom he was married for 44 years. Memphis Mayor, Henry Loeb, asked Mike to coordinate an effort to bring a professional NFL team to the city. Mike formed Mid South Sports Action, Inc. Shortly thereafter, he formed a music production company called Mid-South Productions. In 1974 Mike joined the Minnesota Vikings and became the General Manager and ultimately Managing Partner which covered a span of 17 years. In 1990, he left the Vikings to become the first and only President of the World League of American Football. In 1983 Mike and Jorja had bought the historic Walter Place in Holly Springs, MS and over the course of the next twenty years renovated it along with two additional antebellum homes. The magnificent park he created will now be named in his memory. He also founded the Oxford University Club in Oxford, MS.

Survivors include his wife, Jorja Swaney Lynn of Holly Springs, MS; two daughters, Lucia Lynn Acitelli and her husband, Mark of Holly Springs, MS and Louisa Lynn of California; two sons, Mike Lynn, IV of Memphis, TN and Robert Lynn and his wife, Tara of New York, NY; three sisters, Kay Kaier of New York, Christine Rosen of Virginia and Shirley Cerullo of Virginia: two brothers, Jimmy Lynn of Minnesota and John Lynn of Germany; seven grandchildren.

Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Mr. Lynn’s memory may be made to Viking Children’s Fund(of which Mike Lynn was the founder), 9520 Viking Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 or a charity of the donor’s choice.

In honor of Mr. Lynn’s service to his country, the flag of the United States Army will be flown at Waller Funeral Home.