Dr. Robert E. Flynn, former President and Chairman of the Caritas Christi Healthcare system in Eastern Massachusetts, and former Director of Medicine and Chief of Neurology at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton, died at home in Mattapoisett on September 3. He was 82.
Dr. Flynn, a long time resident of Dedham, was a chief architect and administrator of the Archdiocese of Boston’s expansive network of health care services during the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Following three years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, Flynn attended the College of the Holy Cross, and received his medical education at Tufts University. He spent the bulk of his medical career at St. Elizabeth’s where he served as Director of Medicine and Chief of Neurology.
A devout Catholic committed to the Church’s mission of healing, Dr. Flynn moved into the administration of health services as Secretary of Health Care for the Archdiocese of Boston. He was named President and Chairman of Caritas Christi, and served also as Chairman of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. Dr. Flynn also served as a board member of the Massachusetts Health and Education Facilities Authority, and a director at the Fernald School.
As Chairman of Caritas, Flynn was chair of a number of major healing institutions in Eastern Massachusetts including St. John of God Hospital, St. Margaret’s Hospital for Women, St. Mary’s Womens and Infants Center, the Cardinal Cushing Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center and Hospice, and Holy Family Hospital.
Although regarded in the latter part of his career as primarily a medical systems chief executive, Dr. Flynn never disguised his love for the actual practice of the medical arts and the teaching of medicine to young doctors. Some of his happiest years, he often said, were as a Professor of Medicine and Neurology at Tufts University, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and a teacher at St. Elizabeth’s. While teaching medicine he was the recipient of the Tufts’ Distinguished Professor Award; and at St. Elizabeth’s as an instructor he was recognized more than a dozen times with the hospital’s outstanding teacher award. Well into his retirement he continued to offer hope and directions to friends who sought his medical judgment and advice.
Dr. Flynn’s work for the Archdiocese and the Catholic Church saw him named a Lord of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
Dr. Flynn was born in Taunton to the late Edmund and Beatrice (Taylor) Flynn. He attended the original Monsignor Coyle High School in Taunton where he was an outstanding football player. He was elected to the Coyle-Cassidy Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2005, in celebration of his 80th birthday, he hosted a reunion of members of his Coyle football squad of 1943.
Married to the late Mary (Canney) Flynn, he was the father of four children: Mrs. Mary Pat Messmer of Centerville, Sheila Flynn of Mattapoisett, Robert Flynn of Mountain Lakes, NJ, and Mrs. Barbara Smith of Chester, NH. He was the grandfather of Sarah and Michael Messmer, Charles Scott, Robert Flynn III, Katherine, Patrick and Scott Flynn, Johanna, David and Keegan Smith. He was predeceased by a grandson, Peter Smith, Jr.
The Funeral Mass for Dr. Flynn will be celebrated Monday at 10:30 AM at St. Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett. Family burial services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in West Roxbury. Visiting hours will be held on Sunday from 3-7 PM at Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Road, Route 6, Mattapoisett. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Dr. Robert E. Flynn Memorial Scholarship at Coyle and Cassidy High School, 2 Hamilton St., Taunton MA 02780.