Emily Flint

Emily McLees Flint, 92, passed away peacefully on August 22 2025 in Mystic, Connecticut, after a long battle with dementia.

Born in Anderson, SC in 1933 to Katherine and Calhoun McLees, Emily grew up learning to shoot tin cans, bake "chess pie" ("just pie" with a Southern accent), and play piano. She studied music at the University of North Carolina, graduating as the civil rights movement was gaining momentum in the South. Emily joined the cause, developing a strong moral compass that ultimately steered her towards a Masters in Social Work (Columbia University, '67), and a lifetime of supporting and volunteering for progressive causes.

A resident of her beloved New York City for more than five decades, Emily made a home on the Upper East Side with her husband of 47 years, George Squire Flint. There, she transitioned her initial professional practice in social work to a long career as a psychoanalyst. They had one son together, Alexander, in whom they instilled a deep love of music, sailing, and the New York Yankees. They spent many summer weekends on the waters of Long Island Sound, and in the garden of their second home in Stonington, Connecticut.

Emily continued to play piano well into her 80s, for many years as a student of Seymour Bernstein. She was famously forgiving of her two-year-old grandson after she gave him permission to 'play' her baby grand, not knowing that he would use a metal rod to hit the original ivory keys! (She replaced the ivory keys with plastic, and he went on to become a drummer.)

Emily was predeceased by her husband, George, and two stepdaughters, Melissa Cappella and Julia Flint.

She is survived by Alexander and his children, Lilith and Callum, of Sydney, Australia; as well as by her stepson Anthony, and step-grandchildren Lilith, Ryan, Hunter, George, and Harrison.