Colin D. Flynn

Colin Donnelly Flynn slipped from this life on December 18, 2024. He was born February 2nd, 1941, in Tulsa, Oklahoma to the late Theron and Virginia (Bean) Flynn. The family moved to the southern suburbs of Chicago where they lived for many years.

Colin attended Dwight D. Eisenhower High School and graduated from Blue Island Community High School in 1959. He then moved to Chicago and attended The School of Art at the Art Institute of Chicago and later graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He met and married Kathleen Ann Young in 1967 while in Chicago attending school and they moved to Golden, Colorado.

While in Colorado Colin opened a commercial design/build construction company creating both commercial and residential buildings throughout the Southwest from Oklahoma west to California and north to Wyoming. Years later he also added real estate sales to his resume. While he had many years of success in business his marriage ended in divorce in 1995.

Looking for a fresh start Colin reconnected with his art and with his High School sweetheart Lois Oswalt who he married in 2004. Soon after Colin and Lois moved to Battle Creek, Michigan where Colin enjoyed great accomplishments as an artist, including The ArtPrize Competition in Grand Rapids, MI, FAV 15 in the Bold Brush Painting Competition and national recognition in 2019 for the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society Best of America Small Painting Exhibition held at the R S Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX.

Colin and Lois enjoyed many many happy years together in Battle Creek and he was preceded in death by Lois in 2023 and his sister Carole Militello. He is lovingly remembered by his daughter, Stephanie (David) Taylor, stepson Mike (Tammy) Oswalt, granddaughter Carter Taylor, step grandsons David and Andy Oswalt, step granddaughter Megan Oswalt, and many more family and close friends. 

He lived his life as a good man, a compassionate father and grandfather and shared his life’s inspiration through his art with the world.

A memorial service will be held at the Richard A. Henry Funeral Home and Cremation Services on Monday, March 17, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service.  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Colin's honor to the Cancer Research Institute or the South Michigan Food Bank