John Edward Flavin

John Edward Flavin, age 83, of New Braunfels, Texas passed away on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. John was born to the late James A. and Mildred M. Flavin in St. Louis, Missouri on January 10, 1942. He was preceded in death by his four brothers, James (Patricia), Louis “Pat”, Cornelious (Noemi) and Paul. He is survived by his wife, Angelita Guerrero, of nearly 50 years. He also has one son, Jonathan, daughter-in-law, Tracy, and two grandsons, Sean and Ethan. He leaves behind a large extended family.

John lived life to the fullest and his greatest attribute was to help and serve others. He was ordained a priest on May 17, 1969, until late 1975 serving to communities of Los Angeles and New Braunfels. While in Los Angeles, he also served as a chaplain and helped the community with marriage and family counseling. He even started a youth group in Compton serving about 140 members at the time.

After he left the priesthood, he moved to New Braunfels where he married his wife on June 12, 1976, and started his family. He spent many years in social work including the majority at the San Antonio Health Department working in AIDS/HIV prevention where he received many awards and accolades for his service to the community. After his retirement from social work, he worked as a substitute teacher up until the fall of 2024.

He was strong in his Catholic faith. Even on long road trips, he would find the closest church to not miss mass. He was a loving husband and an outstanding role model. He loved photography, especially taking endless pictures of his wife. Every day after work, he would go outside with his son and play football or baseball, sometimes for hours. After dinner, John would make more time helping his son with schoolwork, always assigning extra research that would extend well into the night. He even threw his knuckle ball playing softball for many years. He was a big fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and enjoyed watching sports especially his two grandsons playing soccer.

John in his own right was very much about learning. He studied for almost 16 years across the US and Italy earning two master’s degrees. He also learned several languages, including Hebrew, Latin, Spanish, Italian and Greek. Growing up in St. Louis, he also had a huge affection towards music, especially Jazz where he learned the drums and guitar. He played drums in a few groups and guitar in the church choir for many years

John leaves a legacy and so many great memories. His impact on this world went further than his inner circle. He will be missed but God received a true angel in heaven.

A visitation will be held Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 5pm-8pm at Zoeller Funeral Home in New Braunfels with the rosary beginning at 7pm. A funeral mass will occur Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 10AM at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. A burial will occur at Guadalupe Valley Memorial Park. A reception will follow at the American Legion Post 179.