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John P. Flynn

Oct. 29, 2008

Dr. John P. Flynn, a Western Michigan University professor emeritus of social work, died Monday, Oct. 27, in Kalamazoo. He was 75.

Flynn joined the WMU faculty in 1970 and served the University for 23-and-a-half years, retiring in 1993. He was named director of the School of Social Work in 1978, holding that position until 1980. In addition to his social work duties, Flynn was active in WMU's computer initiatives and was appointed associate director for instructional computing support in 1990.

Flynn received a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan-Flint and master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1959 and 1960, respectively. He earned a doctoral degree at the University of Denver in 1970. Before joining the WMU faculty, he served as an assistant professor of social work at Northern Michigan University.

While at WMU, he taught primarily in the area of social welfare policy, planning and administration and research methods and served on a number of University, college and school task forces and committees, as well as the boards of community organizations. His research was funded by grants from such agencies as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan Department of Social Services, and he served as a consultant for the Michigan Department of Social Services and Michigan Department of Mental Health.

Before becoming a university professor, Flynn worked as a caseworker and administrator at agencies and clinics in Rochester, N.Y., and Saginaw, Mich.

Flynn wrote the book "Social Agency Policy: Analysis and Presentation for Community Practice," published in 1985, and co-edited the book "School of Social Work: Practice and Research Perspectives," published in 1982. He also wrote numerous book chapters and many articles for professional journals, both during his career and after retirement.

A visitation is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Life Story Funeral Home, 6080 Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 31, at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 1333 W. Lovell St., Kalamazoo.

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, (269) 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

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