Henry Flynn

Henry Flynn, Jr., was born in Houston, Texas, on June 14th, 1931.  He was the son of Henry Flynn, Sr., and Lettie Olean Tracy. Shortly after birth, he went to live in Port Arthur, where he grew up. He attended Woodrow Wilson Jr. High and Thomas Jefferson Sr. High School, graduating in June of 1949. During this time, he was active in Boy Scouts, earning his Eagle rank at the age of sixteen.

Henry attended Rice University from 1949 to 1954, earning two degrees in Chemical Engineering. He married Susan Jane Bentley in 1953 at the beginning of his final year of college. Before marriage, Henry and Sue agreed to be active in church and Christian endeavors, and to tithe their gross income. Henry continued through with this for the rest of his life, and the blessings of God have been returned many times over.

After graduation, Henry accepted a job with American Oil in Texas City, Texas. After two years, he was transferred to Yorktown, Virginia, where he lived for three years before transfer to Joliet, Illinois.  With the move to the Joliet plant, he switched from the refining to the chemical division of the company, where he worked 29 years.  He finally transferred back to Texas in Chocolate Bayou, where he retired in 1992. Throughout his career, Henry continued to advance in his occupation. He eventually became the Superintendent of Operations in Joliet and Technical Director in Chocolate Bayou.  The move back to Texas was an answer to prayer to get away from the harsh Illinois winters and be near two of his daughters and grandchildren. In October of 1992, Amoco was downsizing and offered financial incentives for early retirement. Henry gladly accepted the offer at the age of 61, retiring after 37 years of service.

Throughout his life, Henry enjoyed genealogy and became a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas. Additionally, Henry’s faith was very important to him. At a young age, he asked Jesus to be his Savior and Lord.  Throughout his life, he studied God’s word, put it into practice in his life and taught it to many others. While attending local Baptist churches, Henry taught youth and young adults, served as church treasurer, attended Billy Graham’s first U.S. Congress on Evangelism, and went with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board on a Mission trip to the Philippines. In Henry’s own words, the trip to the Philippines “was a marvelous experience and one of the spiritual highlights of my life.”

During his time in Joliet, he and his family began attending Calvary Temple, an Assembly of God church in Naperville, Illinois, because of the outstanding teaching, and his Christian walk grew tremendously as a result. While there, Henry went on mission trips to Munich, Germany, and Paraguay and became a certified instructor in Evangelism Explosion.

After the transfer back to Texas, he made his home in Friendswood.  Upon retirement, he became involved in the ministry of Promise Keepers, serving as the local coordinator. He served on the Board of the local Crisis Pregnancy Center, Faithful Fathering, and Action Ministries. He also financially supported many ministries.

Henry was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2005 and fought hard through the rest of his life. He finally succumbed from health complications due to Parkinson’s on June 9th, 2020, and is now with Jesus, whole once again.  His family would like to express their gratitude to the health care workers who saw to his every need around the clock for the last two years of his life.  You are like family to us, and we cannot adequately express our thanks to you for going above and beyond in your care of him.

Henry is survived by his loving wife, Sue, and his daughters Linda (Ron) Clark, Clarke (Paul) Hines, and Kate (Ninja) Escobedo, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of customary remembrances, please send memorial contributions to the Beltway 8 South Crisis Pregnancy Center or Faithful Fathering Ministries.

A memorial service will be held later on in the fall.