December 15, 1932 – July 6, 2026
John R. Flinn
John, 93, of New Canaan, passed away on Monday, July 6, 2026.
John was a devoted husband to MaryEllen Flinn, his beloved wife of 65 years. He was a proud father to Ellen (Kevin) Dufficy, Anne-Marie (Paul) Queally and John (Sukie) Flinn. Nothing brought him greater joy than being Papa to his grandchildren Brian, Erin, Sean, James, Katie, Kevin and Jack and his great-grandchildren Trey, Rosie and Liam.
John attended Seton Hall University, where he earned a BS in Management. John received the national Provost Marshall General’s award as the outstanding cadet of 5,000 cadets at Seton Hall and began his service the day before the Korean War ended. He completed his service obligation and was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant.
After the Army, he began a remarkable career with IBM. In New Jersey in his 20’s, he built a career in sales and relationship management that took him around the world. He was a senior executive in IBM’s presence in Europe in the late 1980s, spending several years living in Paris, France with MaryEllen.
Throughout his career, he valued the friendships he built as much as his professional accomplishments. He retired at 80 years of age whereupon he served as a member of The Planning and Zoning Board of New Canaan. He continued his over 50-year service with the Exchange Club of which he was passionate. It was a big part of their lives including many friendships made while raising money to help abused and at-risk children and families and providing lots of grants to the community in need. An avid golfer, John was a longtime member of the Waccabuc Country Club of Waccabuc, NY where he made life-long friendships. Mostly, he cherished time spent with his family whom he guided, protected and loved fiercely.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 10, 2026, at St. Aloysius Church, 21 Cherry Street New Canaan, CT 06840, followed by an interment at St. John Cemetery at 223 Richards Avenue, Norwalk, CT. The Flinn Family is being compassionately cared for by the staff at Hoyt Funeral Home, 199 Main Street, New Canaan, CT 06840. For online condolences, please visit www.hoytfuneralhome.com.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in John’s memory to the Exchange Club of New Canaan, CT.