George Hamilton Flinn II

George Hamilton Flinn II

AGE: 82 • Locust

George Hamilton Flinn II, died peacefully at home in Locust, on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014. He was 82. He was born on Dec. 1, 1931 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Lawrence and Marion de Vlaming Flinn. A graduate of The Hotchkiss School (1951) and Yale University (1959), George served as a Sergeant and Communications Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, and, in 1959, opened the first private sport parachuting school in Orange, Massachusetts. He later worked in the plastics industry for the Celanese Corporation and Nylon Products.

An all-around outdoorsman, George was a licensed pilot, a black belt in Judo, an experienced horseman and a champion skeet shooter. He loved to play hockey, squash, tennis, paddle tennis, and to telemark and downhill ski. He was also a lifelong bicyclist and motorcyclist, who kept riding, until weeks before his death, and peddled, at the age of 65, from Boston to California and from Maine to Florida. He canoed most of the white water rivers in the United States and Canada, including the challenging Colorado and the tidal bore of The Bay of Fundy. Between 1974 and 1992, Mr. Flinn co-owned the Vista Verde Guest Ranch of Clark, Colorado, where he guided numerous elk hunts, repaired fencing, branded cattle, and from where he set out on solo hikes across the Continental Divide.

George was an active member of the Rumson Country Club, the Seabright Lawn Tennis & Cricket Club, the Seabright Beach Club, and former member of the Racquet & Tennis Club of New York City. He was an avid supporter of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation and most recently, very much enjoyed his membership in a local "Fat Man Club" luncheon group.

George Flinn is survived by his loving wife, Genie Lord Flinn; two brothers, Lawrence Flinn and Michael Flinn, both of Greenwich, CT; his first wife, Kendall Hetterly of Efland, NC; three children of his first marriage, Avery Brighton of Rumson, Larsen Flinn of Red Bank, and Mason Flinn of Penn Valley, Pennsylvania; and their spouses, respectively, Chris Brighton, Donna Flinn and Megan Flinn; two step sons, Josh Lord of Rumson and Christopher Lord of Ruxton, Maryland; and their spouses, respectively, Lucinda Lord and Mary Lord; as well as nine grandchildren and six step grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 29 at Saint George's-By-The-River Episcopal Church in Rumson. In lieu of flowers, please contribute, in George Flinn's name, to Saint George's-By-The-River Outreach Program, 7 Lincoln Road, Rumson, NJ 07760.