Lynn Hedl - Thursday, August 10, 1950 to Thursday, April 9, 2020
Lynn Lanier Luoma Hedl
In His infinite wisdom and mercy, God the Father called our beloved sister and dear friend Lynn home to Heaven to join with Him and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She was 69 at the time of her passing on April 9, 2020 from a myriad of health issues at the UAB Medical Center.
Lynn was born on August 10, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee, the oldest child of William Edward Luoma and Mada Louise Luoma (neé Richardson) Edmonds. Lynn was blind from birth, caused by the oxygen administered to her in the incubator at her premature birth. Because of that, she never saw anything, but she could hear everything. God gifted her with perfect pitch, the talent and skills to become a concert pianist and opera singer who mastered the harp later on in life and spent many a happy hour playing and singing with her friends in her Harp Circle. She never complained about being blind – and us younger siblings learned to take it for granted and understood that Lynn came first in our hearts, and her needs were paramount within our family.
Lynn attended the Mississippi School for the Deaf and Blind in Jackson at any early age and high school at the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega, graduating as the Salutorian ranking second in her class. After high school, she attended the then Yancey State Junior College in Bay Minette and received her Associate’s Degree in General Education. From there she earned her Bachelor’s Undergraduate Degree in Music from Mobile College. Lynn Attended UA (Roll Tide!) and was awarded a Master’s Degree in Blind Rehabilitation from the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. From there she took a job with the VA and dedicated more than 40 years to working with service members blinded during combat operations in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars or because of old age.
Lynn found time in her busy schedule and married William Paul Hedl, of Columbus, Ohio, on April 9, 1994. They lived happily together in Birmingham for more than 20 years until his death in July 2016. They had no children.
Shortly thereafter, Lynn retired from the VA and embarked on a new life of music, travel and adventure. She was dedicated to blind causes nationwide and could be found on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC every February tirelessly advocating for better programs and services for blind people nationwide. Her last project was working with American Council for the Blind (ACB) and their Mainstream Radio service, which streams via the internet, up-to-date and relevant information worldwide for persons who are blind or who have low vision, provides programming produced by blind programmers and a platform on which blind musicians and artists express their talents. She was President and charter member of a sub-group of ACB called Friends in Art. She was a great and special person, deeply devoted to her God, our Savior Jesus Christ, and His church, as well as the well-being of others. All her family and friends already miss her dearly.
Lynn was preceded in death by her parents and youngest sister, Jan Elizabeth Randel, and is survived by her sister Mary Emily Dawson Loiselle, Jacksonville Beach, Florida; and her brothers Captain William Marcus Luoma, USN (Ret.) of Arnold, Maryland and Christopher Neal Luoma, of Fairhope, Alabama. In addition to her siblings, there are a host of their husbands and wives and other relatives who are also grieving – her father’s sister Betty Chapman (and her children Herbert and Priscilla), Bishop Bob, Suzanne, and Lori; nieces and nephews Adina, Bo, Holly, Rob and Michelle, Abigail and Everett, Robert, Harry, Tiffany and Tabitha; and great nieces and nephews, Megan and Rachel, Kayla, Aidan and Collan, Nichole and Hannah, Allie and Kristina, Kristian and Brooklyn. Not to be forgotten was our late step-father Henry Edmonds, to whom Lynn was the apple of his eye and there was nothing that he would not do for her prior to his death too soon in July of 1984. Lynn was the bright shining light in all of our lives.
And of course, there are her legion of friends and coworkers. Chief amongst those are Nancy, Kat, Jan, Teri, Chesterlene, and Shelly – if we have left anyone out, we apologize. We love you for the support that you have provided Lynn over these many years, and may God bless and keep you and the lives of your families and loved ones safely in His great and gentle hands.
A memorial service at St. Andrews Episcopal Church at 1024 12th Street in Birmingham will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to ACB Friends in Art - Lynn was President at the time of her death - friendsinart.com
- To make a donation
Michael Byington, Treasurer - Friends in Art
C/o Kansas Assn. of the Blind & Visually Impaired
712 S. Kansas Ave, Ste. 410
Topeka, KS 66603