Lynn Abrams, 70, started life as a shy child and grew into a dance floor regular, snapping selfies in light-up headbands. She nurtured people, plants, and traditions — especially the best Jewish holiday meals, according to her daughter. 

Abrams was killed at her home Saturday. Lawrence police allege her grandson, Marcus Cassella, called dispatch and confessed to killing her. 

Abrams was retired but had worked at Hallmark Cards for four decades, starting when she was 25 years old.

Throughout her life, she was a fixture in Lawrence and Kansas City’s music scene. As a music promoter from the early 1990s, she could always be found at a show — especially in recent years at Lucia in downtown Lawrence. She served on the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors’ board and frequented spots like Genovese for Wednesday night jazz.

Abrams had one daughter, Tiana Galloway Stubbs, and three grandsons. Galloway Stubbs said she thought the details of her son’s arrest sounded odd and that she’s still gathering more information. She was hesitant to discuss much about Cassella, who has been charged with murder in connection to Abrams’ death.

Instead, she wanted to focus on memories of her mom and the woman Abrams was.

Galloway Stubbs said that in recent years, she made every effort to spend time with her mom.

“We used to get together on Wednesdays, and we would have tea time,” Galloway Stubbs said. “She’d come over to my house, and I’d make tea, or she’d bring tea.”

They chose Wednesdays because that was also early out day for Gallowy Stubbs’ youngest son, so he too could join the pair.

After a while, they decided to find a shared hobby, which led them to take a gardening course, even though Abrams already had a green thumb. They were sad when it ended and wanted another activity, so they started going to jazz at Genovese.

“Alex and Barna (at Genovese) would automatically have a glass of Chardonnay ready for my mom when she walked in … Mom was such a socialite, she had to talk to everybody,” Galloway Stubbs said. 

Galloway Stubbs will always remember her mom’s hippie clothes and stick-shift car — she drove Galloway Stubbs to countless medical appointments after she started experiencing major health issues in January. Abrams always checked in on her daughter to make sure she was feeling up to their usual outings. 

If Galloway Stubbs had to describe her mom in one word, it would be “unifier.” Abrams connected people, bands, and causes throughout her life.

“My mom used to tell me, ‘I don’t know anything. I don’t know very much, but I know who does know,’” Galloway Stubbs said. “That was her greatest asset.”

Emily Taylor, director of marketing at Lucia, said Abrams was a passionate supporter of the local music community who generously shared her time and energy advocating for artists.

“She was one of the first people I met when I started booking live music and instrumental in bringing many reggae bands to Lucia,” Taylor said. 

Abrams was a constant presence at shows, offering guidance to promoters and encouragement to musicians.

“Lynn had a lot of wisdom to share about enriching and promoting live music events and you could always count on seeing her on the dance floor,” Taylor said.

Friends and family will remember Abrams’ legacy: making sure no one was alone.

Courtney Lane (she/her), reporting correspondent, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2026. Originally from Arkansas, she’s a graduate of KU’s Journalism school, where she worked as a reporter, opinion section editor, and eventually editor-in-chief for The Kansan.

Read her work for the Times at this link, and see her photography for the Times at this link.

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