A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 22, 2019, at Cason Monk-Metcalf Sunset Chapel officiated by Bill W. Flynn. An inurnment service will follow at Sunset Memorial Park.
Mr. Flynn was preceded in death by his loving wife of 67 years, Kitty Garrett Flynn, his parents, brothers Eugene Flynn and Jack Flynn, and sister Lucille Flynn.
He is survived by his son, Bill W. Flynn and wife Margaret, daughter Linda Flynn; grandchildren Sam Flynn and wife Charlotte, Joe Flynn, Will Flynn and wife Sarah; great-grandchildren Evan, Owen, Jackson, and Hallie Flynn; brother Paul Flynn and many nieces and nephews.
Bill graduated from Corsicana High School and attended Hardin College in Wichita Falls, where he met his wife. Bill loved sports. He played football and basketball in high school and attended college on an athletics scholarship. As a young man, he played softball and bowled, and was an accomplished golfer. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing when he got the chance. In later years he enjoyed watching his favorites, the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Longhorns on television.
In 1948, Bill joined the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Corsicana. He quickly advanced to management and was transferred to Dallas in 1952. In Dallas he rose to the rank of District Marketing and Accounts Manager. While working for the telephone company, Bill was often assigned to help coordinate communications for visiting officials. One of his assignments was to drive a car in the motorcade when President Kennedy visited Dallas in 1963. When the president was shot, Bill drove his passengers to the hospital and later drove the car onto the runway so they could board Air Force One.
Bill and his wife were charter members of the Casa Linda Methodist Church in Dallas. Bill served on the church board and also taught sixth grade Sunday School.
After retiring from the phone company, Bill concentrated on gardening and cooking. He did all the cooking except desserts, and enjoyed collecting and studying cookbooks and trying new recipes. He became a Master Gardener and was active in the Dallas Bromeliad Society as well as the Men’s Garden Club. He volunteered for many years at the Dallas Arboretum where he performed various duties, including being the expert answering questions on the gardening hotline.
Bill and Kitty enjoyed travel, especially road trips. They drove nearly every year to the Men’s Garden Club national conventions, sometimes going as far as Spokane, Washington and Albany, New York. They also enjoyed taking their grandchildren on trips and escaping the Texas heat in Red River, New Mexico.
The Flynns moved to Nacogdoches in 2011 to be near their children and grandchildren. They enjoyed fellowship in the Ashbury Court neighborhood as well as the First Methodist Church.
The family wants to send a special thank-you to Bill’s caregivers, Bridget Deckard, Paula Henderson, Dee Holcomb, Mechelle Roberts, Peggy Scott, Zena Tutt, and Janice Ballard. They brightened his life and enabled him to stay comfortable in his home.
Arrangements are under the direction of Cason Monk-Metcalf Funeral Directors, Nacogdoches.