Daryl Leo Flynn

Daryl Leo Flynn lived his life exactly the way he wanted. He wasn’t afraid to switch things up and pursue a dream. He had a vision for the path less travelled, and he followed it, for better or worse. Sure, life brought him through nightmarish twists and turns, as life will do, but he always came back to what he loved, creating beauty in everything he touched and living for the party.

After a lifetime of indulgence and enjoying various forms of merriment, Daryl was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma lung cancer. He was so wrapped up in the act of living and enjoying himself to bother with mundane self-preservation activities, like going to the doctor or doing the things people say will lead to a long and healthy life. The way he figured it, everyone is going to meet their demise at some point, he might as well have all the fun along the way. He chose to be at home among family for his remaining days. Over the last three months, all those he loved brought the party to him one last time. In between taking long naps, eating copious amounts of chocolate ice cream, and dreaming up gourmet meals for his wife to cook, he talked and laughed, and made merry with everyone who came to visit.

Daryl Leo Flynn was a lover of all things creative: art, music, philosophical thinking. All of which he could effortlessly combine into one mind-blowing conversation, often fueled by some liquid elixir, leaving the recipient of his musings bewildered, but with a fresh perspective that challenged their previous way of thinking. Not that any one way of thinking was ever wrong to Daryl, he just liked to explore ideas, and the more obscure the better. He had the ability to create moments with people that left them feeling like they shared something truly special.

Daryl enjoyed practicing the art of being sneaky and though he was never really good at it, it never stopped him from trying. As aggravating as his shenanigans could be, he always had the same sheepish, child-like grin when confronted. It was almost as if he enjoyed being caught in his mischief. His loved ones can only imagine the wiles he got into as a child growing up in Indiana country, but one thing is for sure, that young spirit never left.

As a boy, he longed to be called an artist. Back then, art was a pastime, not something to build your life around. He wasn’t the most nurturing father or even a good role model, at least not in the traditional sense, but there were no lengths to the encouragement and support he offered to young people who expressed even the smallest interest in art. He always carved out space for others to create and simply be themselves. Daryl himself was an artistic genius, birthing creations into this world that left its viewers both in awe and astounded by the glimpse of his mind’s inner workings. He was born an artist and he lived the life of an artist.

Daryl graduated in 1988 from Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Design. Just two years prior, Daryl won first prize in a national rocking chair exhibit for a piece described in the Lake Charles American Press as having “huge, contorted arms”; a rocking chair that will never be forgotten by anyone who viewed or sat in it. Daryl became the ‘Chairman’, and while his chairs were extraordinarily beautiful, they remain functional art, fitting near perfectly anyone who chose to grace their seats. See, Daryl wasn’t about the stuffy art culture and preferred art that you could touch, feel, and experience. He wanted things to be beautiful, but comfort and usability was the primary motive. His art was inspired by many things, but his young children’s art often became the subject. Southwest Louisiana was the birthplace for most of the art he created, but his work has been viewed around the nation in galleries in California, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Texas.

Daryl got his start in this world on May 19th, 1952 in Kokomo, Indiana. As a child, he survived a tornado with his family that destroyed their home. This tragedy became the catalyst to learning carpentry and wood working skills; the skills that ultimately supported him and brought his unique form of art to life. He shared loving debaucheries with childhood friends, bonds that were still strong as ever fifty years later. A peace-lover, he was drafted late into the Vietnam war and ended up stationed in Korea and ironically, given a job as military police. After his service, he bounced around for a while in true Daryl fashion. In the early 1980’s, he took a trip down to Lake Charles, Louisiana to visit a friend. Daryl took one look around at Louisiana, its rich culture, full of good food and good people; He found his home.

On that first trip to Louisiana, he went to a crawfish boil and met the mother of his children and first wife. Although he left something to be desired as a father, Daryl was excruciatingly proud of his children and loved them beyond measure, he just didn’t always know how to express it. But he provided them a wide array of bizarre experiences that shaped them into some pretty cool humans, who are more interesting people because Daryl Flynn was their father.

In the late 1990’s, he fell in love with a magical piece of property with the most gorgeous live oak trees in all of Lake Charles. The property, and the house he built under the trees, became his life’s work. He always said he wanted to live inside of a painting, and he made that dream come true. Many people revolved through his house in its constant stages of change and development, influencing its growth along the way. Daryl and his house made a lasting impression on anyone who ever spent time there.

His house became a home when he met and married his wife, Sabra. They enjoyed many adventures together from meeting the Dali Lama to seeing the Grand Canyon and experiencing Burning Man. Though they had their battles, mostly over his self-destructive tendencies, they shared the same vision for the life they wanted to create; they found true acceptance with each other. Through his stepchildren, Daryl got to experience being a “paw-paw”. It gave him great joy to have two grand-babies born in the house he built.

Daryl’s wife and daughter, Heather, did their best to send him off with the Christmas party he wanted. They listened to Paul Simon, shared an afternoon beer, toasted him with Fireball, dressed him up in his Christmas finest, and prepared the Christmas meal including the strongly requested oyster dressing made from his mother’s recipe. Daryl took off on his last great adventure unofficially on the night of Christmas Eve, but officially on Christmas Day, just to ensure the party kept going into the wee hours of the morning. He took his final breaths, at the age of 69, shortly after the oyster dressing was enjoyed by all, with Die Hard playing on the tv in the background, and two people who loved him dearly in the room with him.

He was welcomed into the spirit world by his parents, William “Bill” and Gladys Flynn; his brother, David Lawrence Flynn; and a large crowd of family and friends who have gone before him, with a party so big and lively we earthlings can’t imagine, a place where you can have all the ‘naughty’ beers and everyday is the beginning of the weekend.

Daryl leaves behind many people to carry on the party and celebrate this thing called life that he loved so much: his two children, Heather Marguerite Flynn and Clark Leo Flynn; his wife, Sabra Noland Flynn; sister Anna Flynn Gardner and her husband David; and countless people he shared meaningful moments, however brief or long. If Daryl Flynn didn’t make a mark on this world, which we’re pretty sure he did, he certainly left a mark on people in a corner of southwest Louisiana and small-town Kokomo, Indiana. A large earth-side party in memory of Daryl Flynn, or maybe a few, will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made in his name to a local community art program of your choice to support the spread of artistic creativity. Cremation entrusted to Johnson Funeral home of Lake Charles.