John Joseph Flynn

John "Jack" Flynn, born June 10, 1951, in South Boston, Massachusetts, and later a longtime resident of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he built a cherished home and life with his wife.

Jack was fondly nicknamed - EJ or JJ to the many people who knew and loved him throughout his life.

Jack was the son of the late Mary Flynn and John "Swifty" Flynn.

He is survived by his wife, Donna Daley of Portsmouth, Rhode Island; his three daughters, Jaime Perkins and her husband, Shelton Perkins, of Foxboro, Massachusetts; Shannon Craig of Taunton, Massachusetts; and Victoria Ferreira and her husband, Mario Ferreira, of Cranston, Rhode Island. He also leaves behind three beloved grandchildren, Emory, London, and Lincoln; his sister, Diane DiBlasi, and brother-in-law, Nelson DiBlasi, of Norwell, Massachusetts.

Jack spent his career on the railroad, beginning as a carman with Amtrak and later working as a mechanic with the MBTA Commuter Rail. His love for trains never left him. He also loved to drive, loved the ocean, and could fix just about anything.

After retirement, Jack enjoyed spending time in his yard and was rarely without a project. He was always finding something to fix, build, or improve around the home he and Donna had built a life in together. Staying busy came naturally to him, and so did helping others. If someone called on Jack and needed a hand, he was there.

He enjoyed football Sundays, watching the Red Sox, spending time with his dog, Remy, and perhaps most famously, having a good time. Jack was the life of the party. He had a way of bringing energy and laughter wherever he went.

But more than anything, Jack loved his family.

His wife, Donna, was his high school sweetheart. After life took them in different directions, the two eventually found their way back to one another, rekindling their love and building a life together in Rhode Island.

In the later years of his life, Jack was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, a form of dementia that gradually changed his ability to communicate and ultimately many parts of the man his family had always known. But the disease could never erase the life he lived, the love he gave, or the memories he created.

To those who loved him, Jack was so much more than a diagnosis. He was a husband, a brother, a father, a fatherin-law, a grandfather, and a friend. He was deeply loved, and his family will carry the best of him with them always.

The family will honor Jack's life with a Celebration of Life gathering at a later date.

"He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control." Philippians 3:21 (NLT)