Longtime Hampden Selectman John M. Flynn has died

HAMPDEN, Mass. (WWLP) - John M. Flynn, one of the leading citizens in the town of Hampden, has died at the age of 79.

Flynn had served 33 years on the Hampden Board of Selectmen, making him the longest serving Selectman in the town's history.

A business leader, Flynn was also the second-generation president of Hampden Engineering Company of East Longmeadow. He was also an Army veteran, and a trustee emeritus at Our Lady of the Elms College.

He leaves his wife Sheila and their eight children.

Flynn's longtime colleague on the Board of Selectmen, Rick Green, told 22News that John Flynn always had the best interests of Hampden at heart.

His son, John D. Flynn, currently a Hampden selectman himself, told 22News that his father was a great man who "never said no to anybody."

Calling hours will be on Wednesday, January 2 at Byron Funeral Home on Allen Street in Springfield from 4:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. A funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, January 3 at St. Mary's Church in Hampden at 11:30 A.M.