Lynn Gantt Davis

November 28, 1957 – July 13, 2026

On July 13, 2026, Lynn Gantt Davis, 68, passed away surrounded by her family after a long battle with appendix cancer. She was born in Albemarle, North Carolina to the late Robert Baxter Gantt and Christine Williamson Gantt.

A lifelong Tar Heel fan, she grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, and attended UNC - Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar. While there she met her husband Scott and joined the Tri-Delt sorority where she made many life-long friends, many of whom supported her throughout her cancer journey.

After graduation she and Scott moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where she became a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and served in numerous executive positions at Aetna Life and Casualty.

At Aetna, she advanced quickly, serving in a variety of groups and roles, including in the International Insurance group and Group Health business. There, she demonstrated that she was more than a stereotypical (i.e. nerdy) actuary when she ran the customer teams for the southern region, leading the group selling and servicing some of Aetna’s most important clients.

She did ultimately become the business’s chief actuary, showing that she also had the chops to lead a highly technical and quantitative group of people.

In 1993, she “took a year off” to devote herself to raising her children. She was a dedicated mother and ensured they had wonderful childhoods. After a couple of years and a one-year return to Aetna, she decided that her family needed her more than she needed to be an executive in the insurance world.

After retiring, she discovered tennis. As with most parts of her life, she dove in headfirst, committing fully to becoming the best player she could be. She became a proficient and very competitive player, excelling on many teams, including one that won a USTA national championship.

Throughout her life she was always “one in a million.” Unfortunately, she was struck down by a disease that only affects one person in a million.

She is survived by her husband, Scott; her son, Rob and daughter, Sarah; daughter-in-law, Lila Allen, son-in-law Grant Houlihan, her grandchildren Everett and Riley Houlihan; her sister, Janet Locke and brother, Robert Gantt.

There will be a private funeral service followed by a gathering at the family’s home in Boone Saturday afternoon.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Appendix Cancer Pseudomyxoma Peritonei Research Foundation. https://acpmp.org

Online condolences may be sent to the Davis family at www.hamptonfuneralnc.com

Hampton Funeral and Cremation Service is in charge of the arrangements.