Lyn Hennion, SOU friend and former trustee, passes away

Lyn Hennion, member of the SOU Board of Trustees from its inception in 2015 until 2022 and a longtime advocate for early childhood education, passed away last weekend. She and her husband, Alex Bellen, lived near the historic town of Buncom in the Applegate Valley.

“Lyn was among the very closest friends of our university, always putting the interests of our students first as she generously shared her broad business and life experience with all of us,” SOU President Rick Bailey and Board of Trustees Chair Sheila Clough said in a joint message to campus. “She understood both the importance and financial underpinnings of our institution, always willing to offer a steady hand as she led with kindness.”

Hennion was a retired financial advisor who spent nearly 25 years with Umpqua Investments – formerly Strand Atkinson Williams & York – in Medford. She previously served as vice president and senior regional manager for the Franklin Templeton mutual funds in Oregon, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

She was a graduate of Stanford University, and also completed the Securities Industry Institute at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Her record of community service and commitment to the causes most dear to her were acknowledged through numerous awards. She was honored with the “First Citizen” award from the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County in 2015. The Oregon Center for Creative Learning (OCCL) established the Lyn Hennion Early Learning Scholarship Fund in 2025, as a tribute to one of southern Oregon’s greatest champions for children and early childhood education. She was also recognized as a top financial advisor by both “Worth” and “Registered Representative” magazines.

Hennion served on the boards of the Craterian Performances Company, the Robert J. and Leona DeArmond Public Foundation and the Buncom Historical Society. She is a former director of the Oregon Community Foundation and its Southern Oregon Leadership Council, and also has served on the boards of organizations including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pacific Retirement Services, the Children’s Institute, the Rogue Valley Airport Advisory Committee, Oregon’s 529 College Savings Network and former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s “Ten Year Plan for Oregon.” She regularly volunteered during tax season as a tax preparer and counselor for the AARP Foundation’s free TaxAide program.

“We know that Lyn will be missed within each of those organizations, just as she is at SOU,” Bailey and Clough said in their message to campus. “The deepest void will be that left by the loss of her genuine compassion and consideration for all who came into her orbit.”