Lynetta Christine Maysonet, 67, of O'Fallon, Illinois, passed peacefully on September 6, 2026, surrounded by the family and friends who loved her most, following a courageous battle with cancer.

Born on July 9, 1959, and raised on the West Side of Chicago, Lynetta was one of six children raised by a young single mother who taught her early what it meant to stretch little into enough, and to keep faith even when circumstances made it hard to. That resilience became the foundation on which she built everything else. She attended Jones College Prep, one of Chicago's most demanding schools, and proved early that she was destined for more than her circumstances might have suggested.

In August 1978, at just nineteen years old, Lynetta enlisted in the United States Army, a decision that shaped her discipline, her bearing, and her sense of duty for decades to come. Over fifteen years of service as an Administrative Specialist and Executive Administrative Assistant, she rose to the rank of Sergeant, serving across the United States overseas.

She was trusted, decorated, and deeply respected, earning the Army Commendation Medal twice, the Army Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal five times over, and the National Defense Service Medal, and was recognized as an Expert Rifle marksman. In 1993, after fifteen years of honorable service, she was discharged with distinction, carrying forward the values that would define the woman she became: discipline, service, and sacrifice for something greater than herself.

It was during these years that Lynetta built her family. In 1980, she married Angel Maysonet in Tennessee, and their union brought her family to full bloom -- she welcomed her stepson, Leonard, as her own, gave birth to her son, Kenneth, in 1981 in Kentucky while stationed stateside, and to her daughter, Maria, in 1992 in South Korea while stationed overseas. As an Army wife and mother, she raised her children across states and continents, turning every new post into a home. That chapter would eventually come to a close, but it left her with what she always called her greatest gift: a family bound by love, raised by a mother who never stopped showing up for them, no matter where the map placed her.

Just as she had served faithfully in uniform, Lynetta went on to serve faithfully in ministry. After her military career, she deepened her walk with God at House of Prayer Assembly in Centreville, Illinois, where she was ordained an elder, founded the Daughters of Zion women's fellowship group, and served as President of the Pastor's Aid to Bishop and Pastor Tabb, faithfully organizing the church's Annual Banquet each year. Lynetta believed, without hesitation, that servitude was the purpose of life, and she let God lead every decision, every relationship, and every day that followed.

She lived out that belief quietly, never needing an organization or an audience to do good. She was often the first to provide for a family in need at church, to buy a gift off someone's registry, or to invest in the education and futures of her nieces and nephews. She was, in every sense, a humanitarian -- one who gave freely of her own resources to meet the needs of strangers, and whose generosity touched countless lives in ways many will never trace back to her.

Lynetta built more than a family; she built a legacy. She developed a passion for real estate and used it to build wealth meant to outlast her, so that her children and grandchildren would inherit far more than memories. Nothing brought her greater joy than being a mother and grandmother.

She was a woman of striking contrast: a spiritual force who could command a room by simply walking into it, and a warm, quick-witted soul who could have you laughing in the very same breath she had you convicted. She loved eating outdoors no matter the heat, loved to travel, loved to shop, and was, without fail, dressed to the nines -- because she believed in showing up for life exactly the way she showed up for the people in it: fully, and with style.

Lynetta served her country with honor, built her family across oceans, gave her life to God, and poured herself out for others. She fought the good fight. She finished her course. She kept the faith. And she was, above all else, the very best mother her children could have asked for.

Lynetta is survived by her children, Leonard Maysonet, Kenneth Maysonet, and Maria C. Maysonet (Allen Brown); her grandchildren, Maria M. Maysonet, Anthony Maysonet, and Penelope Brown; and a wide circle of extended family who loved her dearly. She was reunited in Heaven with her mother, Ernestine Gould; her uncle, Michael Gould; and her brother, Kevin Gould.