Bob CollinsVince Flynn died early this morning. He was a best-selling author and a local kid and a bit of a radio star thanks to KFAN’s Dan Barreiro, on whose show he appeared regularly.
There are already plenty of news stories around about his death from prostate cancer, but for a tremendous assessment of his life, it’s unlikely there’s a better source than the blog, Catholic Hotdish. It’s a masterfully and tenderly written remembrance from his friend Kathy Schneeman.
A friend of the Flynns, Fr. Peter Laird (who went to college with Vince), said that there were always two things in Vinnie’s hands: his phone and his ring rosary. Father added, “One was used to communicate with people on Earth, and one was used to communicate with God in Heaven.” He then stated that a copy of the Magnificat prayer book was always near his side.
The Flynns are members of St. Joseph’s in West St. Paul. Vince was a fixture in the pews quite often for the all-school Masses on Fridays. He’d sit right in between his girls. Often, he’d discuss with family and friends what he heard in Fr. Creagan’s great homilies or those delivered by other priests.
Vince loved his Catholic faith, even though he was a Type-A and got anxious if Masses ran too long. After he was diagnosed, his family often stood in the back of church with our big clan. Often, he would help us chase around our toddling twins or just hold them in order to give us a break. That’s the kind of guy he was.
