Dorothy Irene Flinn

Irene grew up as a child of the Great Depression and believed that hard work, strong faith and enduring optimism were keys to a good life. Born July 4th, 1934, in Mancelona, Michigan, pretty but shy, had the good luck to literally bump into a handsome Marine vet named Milton G. Flinn at a Lansing roller rink the year she turned 20. After a whirlwind romance, they married and raised five children, living an American life of ups and downs both routine yet extraordinary, ultimately immortalized in the 2015 award-winning memoir, Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good by her daughter, Kathleen Flinn. They uprooted their young family to travel Route 66 to California to work in his brother’s San Francisco restaurant and moved back a few years later to settle on a small farm in Davison, Mich.

In 1976, on a week-long vacation to Anna Maria Island, they impulsively bought a home. After Milton died tragically young at age 50 in 1980, Irene continued to live on the island for nearly 40 years. She often said the island was “where my soul feels most at home.”

She remarried Edward “Eddie” McIntyre in 1989 and began a new life chapter. The pair were early volunteers of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch. They decamped to a second home in Tennessee in summers to hike trails in Smoky Mountains National Park. After Eddie was diagnosed with brain cancer, Irene became a longtime caregiver until he died in 2014.

She took regular trips to Rancho La Puerto, a wellness spa in Mexico, to revive and prompted by her experiences there became a pescatarian for several years, or what she called “a fishka” because it sounded more Swedish, a nod to her grandmother who’d emigrated to the U.S. as a teen in the late 1800s.

Irene was a vibrant spirt with a disarming sense of humor, but above all, exuded kindness and generosity. She was a longtime member of the Island Baptist Church and sang in the choir. She loved to garden, to sing, to listen to country music and rarely missed a walk on the beach at sunset. Her family threw her a big 90th birthday party at the Beach House this past 4th of July.

She studied to be a secretary, but her natural empathy and keen judge of character made her a natural for working with hiring good people. Her last role was Director of Human Resources for Arvida, owner of the Longboat Key Club, where she worked for 17 years.

Survivors include her sister, Melvina Fridline of Davison, and her husband, Rich; her sister-in-law and lifelong friend, Mary Jo Greenwood; three sons, Milton of Little Elm, Texas, and his wife, Delynn; Douglas of Louisville and his wife, Penni; Michael of Zolfo Springs and his wife, Shirley; two daughters, Sandra Klim of St. Petersburg, and her husband, Francis; and Kathleen Flinn Klozar of Anna Maria Island and Seattle, and her husband, Michael; seven grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

She was laid to rest alongside Milton at Mansion Memorial Cemetery in Ellenton. Memorial donations may be made to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, P.O. Box 1114, Holmes Beach, Florida 34218 or via their web site.