Celebrating the life of Lynell Zogbo

In Memoriam: Dr. Lynell Marchese Zogbo (1948–2026) 

Contribution by the UBS Global Bible Translation Team 

On March 7, 2026, Dr. Lynell Marchese Zogbo passed away peacefully after a courageous thirty-year battle with cancer. She was 78 years old. With her passing, the global Bible translation movement has lost one of its most respected scholars, mentors, bridge-builders, and advocates. Yet her legacy remains alive in the many lives she shaped, the translators she trained, the resources she produced, and the countless communities that now hear and read Scripture in their own language because of her life’s work.

Family Life

Lynell was born on February 15, 1948, in San Diego to parents Mario Marchese and Wanda Katherine Fortner. She also shared life with her younger sister, Diana Anderson. From an early age, she displayed intelligence, warmth, determination, and a deep curiosity about language and people—qualities that would later define her vocation.

She married the love of her life, Georges Gaston Nahounou Zogbo, and together they built a home marked by hospitality, faith, resilience, and intercultural richness. Their marriage of more than forty-five years became a testimony of enduring love. They raised two children, Kaligbeu Georges Mario Zogbo and Wané Jeanne Katrine Bogui, and later delighted in five cherished grandchildren: Nevaeh, Makena, Ossoabha, Will, and Georgie. To them, she was lovingly known as “Grandma Africa.”

Those who knew Lynell personally remember not only her intellect but her joy in ordinary life. Friends recall family outings, holiday letters, digital Christmas greetings, shared meals, and her gift for making every gathering warmer. Former neighbours remember how she painted children’s faces during festive American traditions and how she turned grocery shopping into fellowship. She was called “Lyn” by close friends, “Maman” by many African sons and daughters, and “Docteure Zogbo” by students and colleagues. Each name reflected a different dimension of the same generous person.

Her long illness revealed another side of her character: perseverance. She fought cancer not merely to survive, but to enjoy one more conversation, one more year, one more embrace with those she loved. Even in weakness, she showed tenderness, courage, and peace.

Academic Career

Dr. Zogbo’s scholarly life was marked by rigour, excellence, and practical service. She earned her PhD in Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1979, completing a dissertation on tense, aspect, and the development of auxiliaries in Kru languages of West Africa. This early research already revealed her lifelong commitment: scholarship in service of real language communities.

Her academic career stretched across continents. She taught and supervised students at FATEAC (now Université de l’Alliance Chrétienne d’Abidjan), where she lectured in translation, Hebrew discourse, Hebrew poetry, Old Testament exegesis, and curriculum development. She also served as Adjunct Lecturer and Research Associate at the University of the Free State and as a graduate supervisor at the South African Theological Seminary.

Later, she continued teaching part-time at the Jerusalem Center for Bible Translators, where she instructed students in translation, Hebrew narrative, Hebrew poetry, and Psalms.

Yet Lynell was never content merely to transmit information. She formed people. Students from across Francophone Africa remember a teacher who listened patiently, encouraged deeply, and believed in them.  She saw the need for highly trained African scholars who could lead Bible translation in their own contexts and cultures. Many translators, consultants, and educators now serving across Africa are a living fruit of that vision.

Her literary contributions were equally significant. She edited and contributed to Le Sycomore, Lisons Nos Langues, and other publications that strengthened translators in French-speaking contexts. She co-authored an important and much-used manual on Hebrew poetry for translators with Ernst Wendland.  She also served as author and editor for numerous United Bible Societies Handbooks, helping generations of translators worldwide.

Bible Translation Ministry

If academia sharpened Lynell’s gifts, Bible translation was the field where those gifts came to fruition on an international scale.

She first served with SIL International in Côte d’Ivoire from 1972 to 1975, working in the Godié language alongside colleagues to analyse grammar, phonology, discourse, produce literacy materials, and translate the Gospel of Mark. This early fieldwork grounded her scholarship in community realities.

From 1985 to 2013, she served for twenty-eight years as a Translation Consultant with United Bible Societies, based in Abidjan and serving also in Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, and Togo. Her influence extended far beyond those nations. She became one of the key figures of Bible translation in Francophone Africa.

Colleagues describe her as a bridge-builder. At a time when French-speaking Africa lacked many of the resources available elsewhere, Lynell worked tirelessly to close the gap. She trained translators, wrote resources, mentored younger consultants, and advocated for French-speaking scholars in the global translation movement.

She participated actively in international workshops and consultant training events. Even after official retirement, she continued contributing through UBS handbooks, articles, mentoring, and teaching. Friends remember her making major contributions to an important global consultant training in Bali in 2005 and maintaining deep friendships across continents through years of service after that.

Her scholarship in Hebrew poetry and discourse was never abstract. She wanted translators to render Scripture not only accurately, but beautifully and powerfully. She longed for communities to encounter the living Word in forms that spoke to heart, mind, and culture.

To the end of her life, even amid suffering, she continued serving. That steadfastness may be among her greatest testimonies.

A Life Worth Celebrating

Dr. Lynell Marchese Zogbo leaves behind a husband, children, grandchildren, friends across the world, generations of students, strengthened institutions, and transformed communities. She leaves a legacy of courage, perseverance, scholarship, and faithful service to the communities across the globe, and ultimately to her Lord.

She lived in such a way so that others might hear God speak in their own language.

And now she rests.

“Well done, good and faithful servant… Enter into the joy of your Lord.”— Matthew 25:23