Anthony Edward “Tony” Wynne passed away peacefully in his Atherton home on October 23, 2026. Born in 1948, he was the third child of Joseph Aloysius Wynne and Barbara Whalen Wynne, then residents of San Mateo, later Palo Alto, finally Atherton. Tony lived the rest of his life within two miles of that Atherton address.
Tony’s early education at St. Thomas Aquinas/St. Albert the Great school in Palo Alto was followed by four formative years at the Woodside Priory, a high school founded by Hungarian Benedictine monks, refugees of the Communist regime. He earned a BA (Major in English) in 1970 at Stanford University and received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California Hastings College of Law in 1973. He practiced law for 16 years before entering the insurance business. He eventually acquired the agency co-founded by his father: Dorsey, Hazeltine, and Wynne. His professional journey reflected both his legal training and his entrepreneurial spirit. Beyond business pursuits, he served on the board of the Life Legal Defense Foundation for 23 years and was an active member of the Atherton Rail Committee.
Tony’s Catholic faith was central to who he was and to the values he carried with him. An altar server himself, he trained others according to the Missal of 1962. He read deeply and attended conferences about the issues facing the Church. And for three decades he lived his faith in service with monthly visits to the residents of Sharon Heights Care and Rehab until it closed and then Kensington Place Memory Care, entertainment hours listed on the schedule as “Adventures with Tony.”
He was passionate about family history, traveled several times to ancestral towns in Ireland, received Irish citizenship, and published a family history, “The Wynnes of Old Leighlin and Leighlinbridge.” He studied Gaelic, played the banjo, polished his public speaking through Toastmasters, and was immersed in the history of the Old West. He even panned for gold. He loved horses and birds. He kept pigeons, both racing homers and rollers, for the joy of watching them fly. Among many lessons he taught his nieces and nephews was: “There are two kinds of people in the world: those who notice birds, and those who don’t.”
Tony had a deep appreciation for the outdoors and adventure. He loved hiking and ocean swimming, enjoying both nature and the challenges it offered. He traveled the world, to Brazil, Tahiti, and Fiji, and hitchhiked across the Australian outback, accumulating the material for tall tales – some of them almost true – with which he entertained nieces and nephews around the family beach week bonfire. He cherished old friends, Dr. David Lewis and others, and was honored to be a godfather several times over.
Preceded in death by his parents, Tony is survived by his eight siblings: John (Maxine), Joseph (Colleen), Mary, Mark, Anne Gribbin (William), Barbara Carrescia (Philip), Catherine Short (William), and Margaret – and 21 nieces and nephews, their spouses, and their children, an expanding circle for Tony’s legacy of adventure, creativity, wit, and faith. May he rest in eternal peace, and may his memory be a blessing to all of us who loved him.
Tony’s family wishes to express deep gratitude to Faye, Juliette, and Malia for their tender care of and affection for Tony during his last months of life.
Visitation will be held on November 9th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Crippen and Flynn Woodside Chapel, 400 Woodside Rd, Redwood City, 94061. Rosary at 7:00 PM.
A Requiem Mass will be celebrated on November 10th at 10:00 AM at Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak Grove Avenue, Menlo Park 94025, followed by interment at Holy Cross Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations may be made to Institute of Christ the King (4467 Illsley Court, San Jose, CA 95136), Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (1800 Lantana Street, Corpus Christi, TX 78407), or Church of the Nativity.
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