JAMES FLYNN
1942-2021
James A. Flynn, born in New York City on March 10th, 1942, passed away on March 7th, 2021, (three days before his 79th birthday) at St. Luke’s Hospital in
The Woodlands. Jim was the son of James Flynn and Catherine Garvey Flynn. He attended St. Gabriel’s School in Riverdale and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in New York. Jim received his BA from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and his MBA from Fordham University.
Jim began his career with Shell Oil and then joined Goldman Sachs. His 40-plus year banking career started at Manufacturers Hanover in New York. Jim then moved to Houston where he joined Bank of the Southwest, followed by many years at Chase Bank, formerly Texas Commerce Bank, from which he initially retired. He continued working for numerous years for both Metro and Cadence Banks.
During college, Jim met the former Bonnie DeRose of Kingston, PA, and they married in 1967. Jim’s pride and joy were his two sons Keith and Derek. The family relocated to Houston in 1976, settling in the Spring area.
Jim devoted time to the boys’ activities such as swimming and soccer and also became an accomplished referee in the Spring/Klein area and served as a UIL referee for high school games.
Jim was well known for being athletic. He played football in both high school and college, participated in Golden Gloves Boxing and played for several years on the Manhattan Rugby Football team. Jim also enjoyed cycling, running, spinning, and golf, but his great love was skiing. He was happiest when hitting the slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Idaho, with his favorites being Breckenridge and Telluride skiing with family and friends.
Bonnie and Jim enjoyed traveling in the United States as well as in Canada and Mexico. Visiting Europe a number of times they took in the sights of England, Spain, Italy, as well as Germany and France where they met old friends.
Highlights of recent years have been with their wonderful travel group with whom they shared numerous adventures and good times in Turkey, Patagonia, Croatia, Thailand, and Israel and Jordan. The last two afforded Jim his most treasured travel memories .... visiting Petra and Masada.
Jim’s grandchildren Kaegan and Eamon gave him the greatest pleasure, whether during their visits to Texas, sharing with them the Alamo, Johnson Space Center and Houston’s museums, or in California where the favorite getaway was Coronado Island and San Diego.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents James Flynn, mother Catherine Boller and her husband Peter Boller, as well as in-laws William and Eugenia DeRose, and sisterin -law Gail Riehl. He is survived by his wife Bonnie, sons Keith Flynn of Houston, and Derek Flynn of Chino Hills, CA, as well as cherished grandchildren Kaegan and Eamon Flynn of Chino Hills, CA. He leaves behind his New York cousins as well as his cousin/”brother” Thomas Cooper of Fort Myers, Fl, and his family.
The family wishes to thank the physicians, particularly Dr. Jessica Brown, and the ICU nurses of St Luke’s Hospital, The Woodlands, especially Vicky, Sara, Jen, Sofia, and Morgan who cared for him in his last weeks.
Jim’s memorial will be held on Thursday, March 25th at 10:00 a.m. at Forest Park in The Woodlands. (Masks, please)
For those desiring, donations in Jim’s name may be made to the following: the American Diabetes Association, the American Red Cross, and the USO.