Ernest Flynn

Ernest "Ernie" Lee Flynn, 73, passed away October 30, 2022, at his home in Billings, MT. He was surrounded by his loving family. Ernie was born on May 8, 1949, to Donna M. Reddoor and Lionel E. Flynn in Poplar, Montana. He was raised by his grandparents, Josephine and Edwin Reddoor. He attended grade and high school in Poplar.
At 19 years old, Ernie was inducted into the Army on October 8, 1968, and travelled by train to Fort Lewis, Washington to start basic training. After many months of training, he got orders for Vietnam. Ernie was there from March 1969 to May 1970. This was a defining time that set off a lifetime of sacrifice that would include total blindness and partial deafness that struck a few years after he was discharged. Despite all of that, Ernie lived a life of service to his country and fellow veterans.
After returning home from Vietnam, Ernie had several different jobs. He was an avid hunter and loved fishing and the outdoors. He was also a skilled carpenter. He worked as a Patrolman for the Poplar Police Department in 1971. He would often share stories about his experiences and how difficult it was to see friends, acquaintances, and young innocent children on police calls during his shift. He also worked at A&S Industries in Poplar as an inspector spending days test firing weapons. This is where he met his future wife while she was working as a secretary.
Ernie married the love of his life, Yvonne Rose Brown, on February 19, 1971. They had 2 children, Ernest, Jr. and Stacee Ann. They were married for 51 years until Ernie's passing, just three and one-half months shy of 52 years.
He started working for the Veterans Administration at Fort Harrison in Helena, MT in 1978, helping fellow veterans as a Veterans Benefits Counselor for 18 years until retiring in 1995.
Retirement led to a move to Billings to be closer to his son and daughter-in-law. His dedication to fellow veterans led him to volunteer with the Disabled American Veterans Transportation program. Ernie helped take phone calls and arranged rides to medical appointments for veterans. Ernie was recognized at the 2014 DAV National Convention as DAV Volunteer of the Year. He logged over 25,000 hours volunteering until COVID shut down the office.
Ernie was full of wit and charm and made everyone he met feel important from the nurse doing a blood draw to lifelong friends. If you were fortunate enough to have a conversation with Ernie, you would realize his intelligence and how superhuman his memory was. Ernie was a voracious reader, enjoying stories of adventure and keeping up to date with all current events reading various newspapers. He was also a known Scrabble shark winning nearly every game he played. What most people probably never knew was that Ernie was a member of Mensa, an organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile on IQ tests.
His family will always remember him as a loving supportive father and husband. Ernie was the true patriarch of the family, and his loving advice, knowledge, and guidance was often sought out.
He was preceded in death by his parents, 3 siblings, and 2 nephews. Ernie is survived by his wife, Yvonne of Billings; son Ernie Jr (Wendy) and beloved grandson Brock of Missoula, MT; daughter Stacee of Billings; also, sister Debbie Farris of Polson, MT; brothers Randy Farris of Indiana; Hank Flynn, Roger Flynn, Tom Flynn, and Perry Flynn all of Oswego, MT and several cousins and nieces and nephews.
There will be a full military graveside burial, United States Army, at Yellowstone National Cemetery, Laurel, MT in Summer 2023.
Ernie will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.