Herschel Flynn

Herschel Flynn was born November 19th, 1928 in Wayne County KY, the son of Rosa Mary Amanda Flynn Payne and grandson of John Walter Flynn and Maggie Marrow Flynn.

He is survived by his wife Thelma Marie Coffey Flynn and six children: Jeffrey Carl, Jerry Wayne, John Steven, Joseph Kaye, James Kevin, and Joyce Marie Wallsmith. He is survived by two sisters: Sharon Payne Speer and Beverly Payne Neuman. He is survived by ten grandchildren: Jeanell Flynn Darling, Kristy Flynn Enriquez, Jennifer Flynn Townsend, Chad Steven Flynn, Eric James Flynn, Stephanie Flynn Stanley, Corey Alan Flynn, Jill Rochelle Wallsmith, Cody Wayne Flynn, and Sadie Carol Flynn. He is preceded in death by his beloved grandson Jesse Ryan Wallsmith. He is survived by sixteen great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

He was honorably discharged in February 1948 after a two-year enlistment in the US Navy serving aboard the LSMR 514 based at Norfolk Naval Station Virginia. After the Navy, he lived for a couple of years in Brownstown Indiana and Elyria Ohio, then back to Monticello for a short time. In 1952, they left Kentucky and moved to Indianapolis where Herschel was hired as a machinist at the Indiana Gear Works. In 1962, Herschel left the Indiana Gear, and took a job as a machinist at the Naval Avionics Facility in Indianapolis, where he worked for the next 30 years, retiring from there in 1993.

In 1954, he and Thelma bought their home on Lesley Avenue, where they would live for the next 55 years. They moved to their current home in New Palestine in 2009.

Herschel grew up on Papa’s farm and was well-acquainted with the ways of nature. He could milk a cow, plow a field behind a mule, and hang tobacco in the barn. Up until just recently, he planted a garden every year and grew just about everything there was to grow. Corn and beans, carrots, tomatoes and peppers, lettuce, mustard and potatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe and cucumbers, radishes, cabbage, kale, and even peanuts. He hunted rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, quail, and deer. He fished for blue gill, rainbow trout, bass, and catfish. He seined for crawdads, gigged for frogs, and reached into the riverbanks for snapping turtles. He loved to take his family camping, swimming at Indian Lake, and boating on Lake Cumberland.

Herschel and Thelma were married in Rossville Georgia on December 19th, 1950. During the nearly 69 years that have followed, he raised his family and remained a Faithful husband, Loving father, Dedicated Christian, Upright citizen, Princely man, Friend of the community, and Loyal Disciple to the Word of God.

As a young father, he professed his faith in Christ and became a member of the Arlington Heights Baptist Church in the early 1960’s, after which he moved his membership to the Lifegate Baptist Church, serving there until early 1970’s. For the remainder of his life and for nearly fifty years, he was a member of the Burge Terrace Baptist Church. He was dedicated and faithful to his church, having served as usher, deacon, Sunday school teacher, bus minister, and prayer partner, wholly committed, and pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2019, from 4-8pm at Flanner Buchanan – Washington Park East, 10722 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46229. A funeral service will be held on Friday, October 25, 2019 at 11am, also at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Alzheimer’s Association Greater Indiana Chapter, 50 E 91st St, Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN 46240