Ian Flynn

Ian Flynn – Eulogy - from a friend and a son...

My dad, Ian Flynn was born in Mill Road Hospital on the 9th January 1964. The first son of proud parents, Joe and Jean, they took him home to my nanna’s house in Southdene, where they were living at the time.
A beautiful baby boy with big, magnetic blue eyes, my Dad enjoyed a happy childhood and it wasn’t long before the young family moved into the family home in Easdale Walk, Tower Hill. He was soon joined by two loving brothers, Joseph and Graham. The Flynn family was complete when my dad was nine, with the arrival of his baby sister, Lisa. Despite the age difference, he was especially close to his little sister and, along with his two brothers, looked after Lisa as the four of them grew up together.
As a lad he was a very athletic, he loved his sport and he excelled in every sport he tried. He was very good at athletics, especially the triple-jump (or “hop, skip and jump” as it was known then.) He won many medals and awards at swimming, backstroke being his best. He once swam with a fractured wrist; such was the determination of the young man.
But the sport my dad really excelled in was boxing, as he wanted to follow in my grandad, Joe’s footsteps. My grandad had trained many boxers at this point and my dad looked up to his dad with admiration and respect. And he was good too! Grandad remembers fondly that my dad boxed 3 fights in one night and won them all in the Merseyside Championships and he went on to become the ABA North West Counties Champion in his teens, also fighting in the Junior ABA’s.
But he was his mum’s lad at heart. Him and my nan, Jean were very close and almost had a telepathic understanding of each other. It was in his nature to hang on his mother’s word, and he always hung on to my nans superstitions. He took these superstitions with him when he went to work on the ships. He once told the Chef and other kitchen workers that it was bad luck to pick up a knife once it had been dropped, something that he had got from my nan. But he forgot to tell them that it wasn’t bad luck for someone else to pick up the knife, so next thing the knives were scattered all over the floor. He told my nan that working the kitchen was like being in a highland sword dance.
He became a proud father at the age of 23 when I arrived. Some of my fondest memories are of the days out and walks we would take together. One time, he took me to the Pier Head and we went onto the ferry. I must have only been about 5 or 6 and my dad had a word with the Captain and we went up to see him and I got to take control of the wheel for a minute or so. When we got back we told everyone that I had driven the “Ferry across the Mersey.” We would go on walks down Pagsy Woods and he would tell me about all the scrapes him, Joseph and Graham would get into when they were younger.
But best of all most recently, Sunday afternoons in my Nan’s. Sitting down for a roast dinner, a few beers and good chat. We would have a few laughs and it would make my day to see how happy he was. I would go with my Grandad to drop him off in Preston, give him a big hug, and feel so good knowing that he was happy and enjoying his life up there with Jolene. They have been together for nearly 7 years and these have been some of the most cheerful, contented years of his life. Jolene and my dad were devoted to each other and you could always see them together and beaming with happiness. My dad, the proud man that he was, must have told everyone in Preston about Jolene passing her driving test. Jolene’s mum said the other day that you’d have thought someone had given him a thousand pound he was so happy.
But that was my Dad. Always took pride in those around him, proud of me going to St Mary’s College and on to Leeds University; proud of Jolene passing her driving test and proud of all his family. He was such a modest man and he couldn’t take a compliment well; Never thought he was worthy of a good comment, when everyone had good things to say about him. Today and over the past week I have heard so many people talking about him.
People have been saying what a gentle, kind man he was and how much they respected him. Some saying how brave and strong he was and how his smile lit up a room. He was a loving Son and warm-hearted Father; a caring uncle to Joseph and Kim’s children, Jake and Faye and to Lisa and Steven’s son, Shea. Dad was so easy to talk to and was a fountain of information; a humble man who never had a bad word to say about anyone.
Let’s keep in mind the fond memories of a man who would do anything for you, a man who was so popular around Tower Hill and Kirkby and made so many good friends, some of them here today. Dad will be looking down and wondering what all the fuss is about. But the fuss is about my Dad, and he deserves a day like today. God bless, Dad, Rest In Peace.

By Ian's Son Jordan and his brother-in-law, Ste.