Rev. Flynn Vincent Long Jr.

Reverend Flynn Vincent Long, Jr , 92, passed from this life to join the Church Triumphant on Aug. 20, 2020. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in San Angelo.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Thursday at Myers & Smith Chapel, Big Spring. The family will be present from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. Thursday for visitation. Due to Covid 19, a graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 28 at Mt. Olive Memorial Park in Big Spring. A memorial service is planned for a later date.

Flynn was born May 9, 1928, in Shreveport, Louisiana to Reverend Flynn V. Long and Martha Venable Fitzgerald. He was raised in Harlingen and Austin, Texas, where he graduated from Austin H.S. He received a BA Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Davidson College, and a Batchelor of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He was ordained to ministry to serve as Assistant Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Midland, Texas, in June 1952. As the oil boom was on in Midland, he was asked that fall to become the organizing pastor of a new church called Westminster Presbyterian where he served until 1958. He married Carole Calkin of Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1954 and they raised three children: Martha, Flynn III, and Sarah. In 1958 the family moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he become organizing pastor of St. Giles Presbyterian Church until 1971. In 1971 he received a grant from the Midland, Texas Presbyterian Foundation to do independent research for The Great Speckled Bird. A Study in American Presbyterian Heritage. He also served as interim pastor of Bethany United Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas (1973-1975).

Flynn’s service and leadership in the church included service on various committees of the General Assembly prior to his calling in l975 as Assistant then Associate Stated Clerk. He served on the Task Force on the Effective Presbytery, Committee on Assembly Operations and Chair of the sub-committee that wrote new Standing Rules for the General Assembly, and the Task Force on Mission Funding. During those years, he also traveled the country extensively garnering support for the reunion of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches that ultimately led to reunification in 1983. He married Grace Ville in Atlanta in 1980. In 1984, they returned to Texas where he pastored the First Presbyterian Church of Big Spring until his retirement in 1997. Grace preceded him in death in 1999.

Throughout his sixty plus years in ministry he served on various committees of the former Synod of Texas, and the Synod of the Sun being elected Moderator (1989-1991). He chaired numerous committees in the old Southern PCUS Presbyteries of El Paso, Central Texas, Trinity, and Covenant, and

was Moderator of the former El Paso and Central Texas Presbyteries. In later years, he served on the Presbytery of Tres Rios’ Committee on Ministry, the Permanent Judicial Commission, numerous task forces and commissions. His ecumenical service includes the Board of World Mission, World Council of Churches, Texas Conference of Churches, and National Council of Churches Governing Board and President of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. He was also involved in many community agencies in Midland, Fort Worth/Dallas, Atlanta, and Big Spring, and served as a Trustee of Schreiner College, Kerrville, Texas.

He authored publications on Presbyterian worship, Christian education, church history and polity, and presented his lectures entitled “The Great Speckled Bird, A Study in American Presbyterian Heritage” to more than 300 congregations.

He married Kay Moritz in Taos, NM September 24, 2004. They moved from Big Spring to San Angelo in 2010 and became part of the St. Paul Presbyterian Church family. Flynn was well known for his Western attire, cowboy boots and hat, and wore a Scottish Geneva gown when preaching. He loved playing his bagpipes and banjo in the neighborhood and for church events. He was devoted to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the congregations he served. He deeply loved his family, his many friends, and colleagues.

Survivors include wife Kay Long of San Angelo, Texas; sister Teeka Baldwin of Dallas, Texas; daughter Martha Long Mann and husband John of Fort Worth, Texas; son Flynn Long III of Kerrville, Texas; daughter Sarah Long Jordan and husband Max of Arlington, Texas; Kathryn Breitbarth of Fort Worth, Texas; niece Blair Baldwin Hudson of Dallas, Texas; nephews George Baldwin and wife Mary of Dallas, Texas, Sam Baldwin of Appenzell, Switzerland, and Tom Baldwin and his wife Felicia of San Antonio, Texas; grandchildren Katie Long Gramatikakis and husband Georgios of Kerrville, Texas; David Long of San Marcos, Texas; Austin and Matthew Ortiz of Waco, Texas; Valerie Goerlitz of Eagan, MN, and Kelly Haberman and husband Mike of Pillager, MN; great grandchildren Tina and Yana Gramatikakis, Ulysses and Arlo Haberman, and Ivy Goerlitz .

The family wishes to thank the dedicated staff and care givers of Hospice of San Angelo for their loving care during the past month.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 100 E. 27th Street, Austin, Texas 78705, Schreiner University, 2100 Memorial Blvd, Kerrville, Texas 78028 or your church or favorite charity.

Arrangements are by Myers & Smith Funeral Home. Pay your respects online at www.myersandsmith.com

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