Ethel Lynn Fortune, precious wife, mother, sister, cousin, aunt and friend, passed peacefully into the arms of her heavenly Father on June 20, 2023. Ethel, known by her family and friends as Lynn, was born in Lincoln, Illinois on April 18, 1935. Surviving family members include her husband Fredrick Douglas Fortune; two daughters, Rebby and Susan (Mike); grandson Adam (Gabi); sister Rebecca (Richard) Reiss of Mesa, Arizona; nephews John Reiss and Mike Reiss; and great niece Becca Reiss. She was preceded in death by her loving parents.
Lynn graduated from Protestant Deaconess School of Nursing in 1956. She married her husband of 64 years in 1958. They served in pastoral ministries for a number of years, residing in the greater Chicagoland area, before moving to Phoenix, Arizona in 1986. Lynn cared for the medical needs of children, and the elderly, in her career as a nurse.
A dear friend once wrote in her college yearbook, “Still waters run deep”. Lynn was a quiet, gentle soul with great depth of character. In the words of her husband, “She always put others first.” Once she was your friend, you had a friend for life. Her tender heart was evident in her creative touch. Whether she was decorating her home, cooking, coloring, piecing quilts together, collaging or planting a garden, her gentle beauty was always present in the lives of those she loved.