Lynn Yamada Davis, a TikTok influencer and the “internet’s grandma” who entertained millions with her Cooking With Lynja account, died on Jan. 1. She was 67.
Davis died in Red Bank, New Jersey. The cause of death at Riverview Medical Center was esophageal cancer, her daughter, Hannah Mariko Shofet, told The New York Times.
Davis began creating her videos in 2020 with her youngest child, Tim Davis, according to the newspaper. Her social media accounts have remained active after her death because she had asked her son to post videos that had already been edited.
@cookingwithlynja You’re the best mom I could have ever asked for but an even better friend. I love you mom ❤️
♬ original sound - Lynja
“My mom was like my partner in crime,” Tim Davis, 27, who edited the TikTok account, told the Times in a telephone interview.
On Jan. 12, Tim Davis posted a TikTok video confirming his mother’s death, according to the “Today” show. The younger Davis shared photographs of Lynn Davis’ life.
“Her final moments were super peaceful, and thankfully she was surrounded by the people she loved most: her friends and family,” Tim Davis said.
Davis’ first TikTok to hit more than 1 million views was posted on June 26, 2020, according to “Today.” The video showed her making bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches in a way her fans described as “charismatic” and “grandmotherly.”
She worked for Bell Labs, now known as AT&T Labs, in Holmdel, New Jersey, for many years before she began making TikTok videos, the Times reported.
Her TikTok account currently has more than 17 million followers, according to the newspaper. She also has more than 2 million followers on Instagram and her YouTube account has 10 million subscribers.
Lynn Yamada was born on July 31, 1956, in New York City and lived most of her early life in Fort Lee, New Jersey, according to the newspaper.
She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, the Times reported. She later earned a master’s degree in business administration as well as public health from Columbia Business School.
Lynn Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019 and it affected her voice, according to the newspaper. Two years later she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.
In one YouTube video, she baked cookies for the medical workers who treated her.
Sean Davis, her other son, is a professional soccer player who plays for the Nashville Soccer Club. He called his mother his “first coach” and said her legacy will be long-lasting.
“I just think her final chapter was exactly how she would have wanted it to be written,” he told the Times.
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