Carolyn Taylor Flynn

May 1, 2019. Beloved wife of the late Honorable William J. Flynn, Jr.; dear mother of William James Flynn, III (Debra), Michael Taylor Flynn (Ellen Goldstein), and Barbara Carlton Flynn; sister of Peg Taylor Braford and Joan Taylor Jackson. Friends may call Sunday 4-7 PM at the PERNA DENGLER ROBERTS FUNERAL HOME, 1671 Maple Rd., Williamsville. Friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service at Christ United Methodist Church, 350 Saratoga Rd., in Snyder, Monday at 10:30. Flowers gratefully declined. Memorials may be made to Hospice Buffalo, Inc. 225 Como Park Blvd., Buffalo, NY 14227 or the Ride For Roswell, care of Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, Elm and Carlton Streets, Buffalo, NY 14263. Online condolences at www.denglerrobertspernafuneral.com

Carolyn Taylor Flynn, a longtime volunteer in the Buffalo community, died May 1st, 2019. She was 96.

The former Frances Carolyn Taylor, a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas, graduated from Fort Smith Junior College (now University of Arkansas, Fort Smith) and did secretarial work in the Field Director’s office of the American Red Cross during World War II. She met her late husband, Supreme Court Justice William J. Flynn, Jr., in the summer of 1942 when he was a captain in the United States Army stationed at Camp Chaffee in Fort Smith. The two married in May 1943 and traveled across the country to Galveston and El Paso, Texas, Wilmington, North Carolina, Leesville, Louisiana and San Francisco, California on Captain Flynn’s assignments until he was deployed to the Pacific Theater. Mrs. Flynn served as secretary to the Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court during the time her husband served overseas. After World War II, the couple settled in Buffalo where Justice Flynn was an attorney practicing for many years before becoming a judge. Mrs. Flynn soon loved life in her new home, quickly making friends, one of her many talents, many through introductions by Justice Flynn’s sister Rosemary Flynn Lynch. Summers were spent at Crescent Beach, Ontario, on Lake Erie.

In 1973 Gov. Nelson Rockefeller appointed Justice Flynn to the New York State Court of Claims and subsequently in 1973-74 he and Mrs. Flynn lived in New York City when the Justice was assigned to hear cases there. Mrs. Flynn handily found apartment sublets and embraced life in the Big Apple. The couple would look back and say it was one of the best years of their lives. Justice and Mrs. Flynn had been married for 67 years at the time of the Justice’s death in 2011.

Mrs. Flynn served on the vestries of both All Saints Episcopal and Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Churches. She co-chaired two healing missions at All Saints and chaired a committee to enlist the religious community of Western New York in a drive to sign up organ transplant donors. The drive was inspired by Mrs. Flynn’s friendship with Elizabeth Green, a young patient she had driven for dialysis for several years. She was awarded a citation by the local chapter of the National Kidney Foundation in 1981. Her committee was instrumental in getting a resolution adopted by the 144th annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese, in 1982, supporting the donor pledge project and calling on the national church to give its approval.

She served on the Junior Board of the Millard Fillmore Hospital Gates Circle, and was a former member of The Member’s Gallery of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Cherry Hill Club and a past president in 1988 of the Garret Club, a position that allowed her to exercise her substantial people and organizational skills.

She was known for her unerring clothes sense and style and worked part-time for many years at Suzn O’, the fashion-forward boutique in Snyder. She enjoyed playing bridge, being with her many friends at Asbury Pointe and elsewhere, and writing, another one of her talents. In 2014 at the age of 91 she published an article in The Buffalo News column, ‘My View’ about the antics of Dave, the life-sized stuffed dog sitting at the ready to protect her in her car.

Mrs. Flynn is survived by her two sons, William James Flynn, III and his wife Debra of Dunedin, Florida, and Michael Taylor Flynn and his wife Ellen Goldstein of Buffalo, and her daughter, Barbara Carlton Flynn of Sydney, Australia. She is also survived by her two sisters, Peg Taylor Braford of Natural Bridge, Virginia, and Joan Taylor Jackson of Dallas, Texas.