Lyn Kravanya Boyett graduated from Gillespie High School (GHS) in 2001, earning a W.E. Schmidt Family Foundation Scholarship. She used the $500 Partnership award toward freshman tuition at Millikin University in Decatur.
Lyn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Millikin in 2005 and immediately pursued a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS). She graduated in 2007.
“While I was growing up, I was always taught to respect people of all walks of life,” she says, “so while I was in high school and college, I knew I wanted to pursue a career where I could help people.”
While studying for her MBA in Springfield, Lyn began to help her parents with the family business, Kravanya Funeral Homes.
“It wasn’t until after I had graduated from UIS that I developed an increased interest in my family’s business,” she says. “I decided that I wanted to live in my hometown where I could serve the people of my community.” In addition to the Kravanya locations in Gillespie and Benld, Lyn is involved with their Bunker Hill facility and the new Ideal Cremations in Benld.
“There is very little time for hobbies,” she says. “I spend most of my free time with my family, my husband Chris and my two energetic children, four-year old daughter Lucy and 2-year old son Dillon.”
As to the importance of post-secondary education, Lyn says: “Today I am able to use the knowledge and experience that I have learned. To me, learning is a valuable tool, and a good education is something that has definitely helped me in life.”
She concludes, “I will always be grateful to all the scholarship organizations like The
Partnership for Educational Excellence for giving me the opportunity to attend a four-year university and advance my education.”
Lyn is the daughter of Tony and Marilyn Kravanya of Gillespie.