Jean D. Flynn

My incredible mother, Jean Flynn, passed away on Friday from pancreatic cancer at the age of 91. She was the very best mother and grandmother anyone could ask for. She was always kind, loving and generous.

Jean grew up in Hillside, NJ, and went to Hillside High School. Jean was only 18 when she started working at the ticket counter at United Airlines in 1952, entering the industry the same year as the first commercial jet plane. In the decades that followed, her job enabled her not only to travel around the world (and share the love of travel with her family), but to witness some of the most profound changes in our society, like visiting China in 1984 as soon as the country opened its doors to tourist flights or being part of United’s response team at the crash site of Flight 93 on 9/11. She saw the impact of the AIDS epidemic firsthand as the airline industry became one of the first to be ravaged by deaths in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, she watched United lead the way to break union contracts and roll back pensions. For all of these 57 years, she witnessed the gender discrimination so obvious inside the cabins, but similar entrenched throughout the airline industry. But she loved the work and working and United, and she was damn good at it, marketing to corporate clients, year after year outselling agents decades younger (while watching less deserving male counterparts get to claim the Superbowl tickets she always coveted, as a loyal NY Giants fan).

She was proud that she worked while attending Seton Hall University where she got her college degree. She liked to remind people how uncommon it was at the time for women to even go to college.

All the while, she was the very best mother to me and to my sister, Patty. Born with Down’s Syndrome and nonverbal, Patty required constant care. At a time when many children like her were placed in institutions, Jean kept her at home and cared for her until Patty’s passing at forty-nine. My mother embraced motherhood wholeheartedly, never with complaint, and with only the most limited outside support—both because so little was available, and because she asked for so little.

She was always up for an adventure. She attended several hot air balloon festivals until I begged her to stop after a series of deaths at one of the events. It wasn’t until just 2 weeks ago that she confessed to me that her balloon almost went down as well!

She was deeply curious about the world. She loved to drive down the road, any road, or follow families home from the supermarket to see how they lived. Some of my best memories are driving around for hours wondering about the people we saw. She was the mom who would ride the roller coaster, jump on the parasail and always drive to pick you up no matter what time it was or how far. She was also an artist, a stain glass maker and a member of the Elizabeth Garden Club.

She is survived by me, her daughter, Jennifer Flynn Walker, son-in-law, Bela August Walker, nephew Randy Burns, his wife Lynda Martenis Burns, grandnephew Marc Burns, grandniece Barbara Burns, Marc’s wife Hannah Hart, the newest addition to the family, Morgan Burns and grandniece and Işınsu Burns. She had a special bond with her two grandchildren, Flynn Robert Walker and Rock Tatcher Walker. On my father’s side, she was the proud aunt to Diane Pugliese, Joyce Flynn-Monaco and her husband Vic Monaco, grandnephew Billy Pugliese and his family, grandniece Stephanie Hague and her family, and was sister-in-law to Carolyn Flynn.

Her funeral will be Tuesday, September 23rd at 5-9pm at McCracken Funeral Home on Morris Avenue, Union, NJ with a celebration of her life starting at 6pm. The mass will be held at 10:30am on Wednesday, September 24th at Holy Spirit Church on Morris Ave in Union, NJ.

Even though she did truly love flowers, in lieu of flowers, she asked that donations be sent to the ARC of Union County, https://tinyurl.com/ARC-of-Union, where she was a long-time donor and volunteer, in the name of Patricia Flynn.

A visitation for Jean will be held Tuesday, September 23, 2025 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at McCracken Funeral Home, 1500 Morris Ave, Union, NJ 07083. A funeral service will occur Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at 10:30 AM at Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church, 971 Suburban Rd, Union, NJ 07083.