Lynette Marie Hassinger

Lynette (Lynn) Marie (Nisson) Hassinger lived a life so vibrant and full that it seemed to pass in a joyful blink of the eye on May 25, 2025. Born in Baltimore, MD in 1957 to the late Anne and Ron Nisson and raised in a loving home with her older sister Leslie in the small town of Conyngham PA, and later Pine Brook in Hampden Township. Lynn was a proud graduate of Cumberland Valley High School and as a member of Alpha Phi Sigma, the National Criminal Justice Honor Society graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree from Shippensburg University.

She loved central PA, the mountains, waterfalls, and beautiful lakes, and with the capital city so close she felt her house in the small town of Mechanicsburg was perfect. She was able to create a lifetime built on family, service, love, teamwork and laughter. No buildings or monuments share her name, but her legacy lives on in friends and family connections that she cherished.

In her teens, she was blessed to work for the Harrisburg Patriot-News Community Service Department, which grew out of her work in Central PA's Youth Forum, a program resulting from President Kennedy's White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1961. The goal was to involve teens in civics and politics by discussing issues important to them and then follow up with a visit to local and Commonwealth legislature and then Washington DC to meet with senators and congress persons and share ideas.

This work led to a part time position as Mistress of Ceremonies for the various scholastic programs that the Patriot-News supported. Commanding an audience of hundreds at the forum or state museum in Harrisburg, she announced participants and winners from the schools within the Harrisburg region. It certainly helped build self-esteem and experience, and speaking in front of a large group was a tool that she would need during her Commonwealth career. As a Penn State Student Senator, she again played the MC while managing coffee houses and special events.

Her college years were spread between marriages, children, and a very busy life. Along the way, she attended the American Academy of Forensic Science and learned "facial reconstruction of unidentified skulls", and shortly afterward completed two subjects for Harrisburg Area Community College's police lab. While at the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Division, she obtained and trained with her weapons and earned a police expert shotgun certificate from the NRA and a police sharp shooter certificate for her tiny 2 1/2 inch Smith & Wesson.

She had a remarkable journey through the child welfare system; starting first as a County Caseworker at both York and Cumberland Counties and then moving to the Commonwealth as staff at the Child Abuse Hotline, County Program Specialist, Director of Information and Data Management, Business Analyst and finally Systems Supervisor. It was a wild and wonderful experience which challenged her ability to learn and keep up-to-date on emerging technologies. One yearly task was to ensure the production of Pennsylvania's Annual Child Abuse Report, to the legislature and the people within the Commonwealth; production of which was challenging without a statewide information system. This comprehensive child welfare system became the goal. While engaged in the planning to develop a statewide automated child welfare system for caseworkers in the field, Lynn was invited by the University of Pennsylvania to a Child Welfare Summit on Technology, held at New York's Penn Club, attendees included Princeton's Stewards of Change, Microsoft, Director of Health and Human Services and various attendees from county and other agencies. As overwhelming and exciting as it was, she had troubles taking her eyes off the fantastic original artwork throughout the club, by Penn graduate Maxfield Parrish!! She peacefully passed in her living room, filled with his artwork.

Travel to Washington Once or twice a year, as well as a visit to different states to see their information system was a perk of the position, and she got to see Utah, where her father, grandmother, and grandfather were born.

Her dedicated staff worked tirelessly on the child welfare system design, especially to identify data and data exchange needs. It was after much of this work that Lynn and her project manager were invited to participate in the National Information Exchange Model with meetings first in Delaware and then at the National Center for State Courts in Arlington. This model was to streamline the development and updates to state and federal information systems to better exchange data. Sad to say that the complete PA information system that Lynn had envisioned and worked for decades towards, is still not completed in Pennsylvania. She retired prior to ever seeing this happen.

She landed her retirement dream job at Tri County Community Action, where she actually felt like she was helping in the community and working towards a greater good. The community, its people and Tri County Agency staff were the best thing about the job and why she excitedly got up happily to go to work each morning.

Beyond her work, her friends and family were what were most important to her.

Her first child Scott Mattern was born in 1978 and Natalie Sonker was born in 1982.

Lynn met the love of her life, husband Todd in 1988, they were married in 1989, and joined together Scott and Natalie, along with Todd's daughter Stephanie in their new family. The family celebrated the birth of York in 1991. Todd and Lynn had a lot in common and loved hosting their family, listening to music, kayaking, going antiquing, reading and researching. They had a wonderful life together and celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2024.

She was at her happiest with her family gathered around the table, trips to Stoneharbor were golden and helped to build connections and memories. She lived for the small beautiful moments, such as taking grandchildren and great nieces for fun and pictures in sunflower fields, Christmas arts and crafts, summer days at the park and pool, and geocaching with the gang!

She is survived by her loving and caring husband Todd, her wonderful sister and brother-in-law Leslie (Nisson) and Greg Richards, her children Scott and Taunya (Davis) Mattern, Natalie and Rob Lewis, Stephanie Hassinger and York Hassinger, her grandchildren, Julian Gruver, Memphis and Gracelyn Lewis, Kyra Blystone, Kaitlyn, Alexis, and Braden Mattern, and Marshall Hemphill, Julia (Hemphill) Brown her Husband Joe and great granddaughter Harlee Ann also numerous wonderful cousins and nieces and nephews.

She leaves behind the world's most attentive spouse, kind sister, extremely loving friends, a few unpaid bills, some half eaten meal bars in the cupboard and a lifetime of memories. Please don't be sad, instead raise a glass to her life, a well lived and well loved life.

A private family celebration of life will be held at a later time. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests hugging a loved one, sharing a kind deed or word and/or helping a child in need.