Bridget Francis Flynn (Kenny)

NORTH SIOUX CITY | Bridget (Bridie Kenny) Flynn, 99, of North Sioux City passed away Sunday morning, June 24, 2012, at Prairie Estates Nursing Home in Elk Point, S.D.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Jefferson, S.D. Burial will be in St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery at Montrose, S.D. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Berkemier Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Bridget "Bridie" was born March 4, 1913 in Ballygar County, Galway, Ireland, the daughter of Thomas and Margaret (O’Leary) Kenny. The Kennys owned a general store and had seven children; Bridget was the fifth oldest. She attended Ballygar Public School until the age of 15, at which time she entered the nursing field of medicine at the Mersers Hospital in Dublin. After graduation she met her future husband, Dr. Eugene Flynn, at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. They were married in 1937. Bridget went on to become a superintendent of the surgery department. At the age of 21, the couple came to the United States.
The couple lived in Refugio, Texas from 1938 to 1942. He was also stationed in Germany, France and London, England. After being discharged in 1948, they moved to Eugene’s home state of South Dakota, and lived in Pickstown, S.D. In 1956, they moved to Pierre, S.D., where he continued his practice until his untimely death in 1958, leaving Bridget along with their 10-month-old son, Eugene. Bridget and Eugene moved to North Sioux City, S.D. to the farm that they had purchased earlier. Bridget lived in her home until the last year when she moved to the Prairie Estate Nursing home in Elk Point.
Bridget raised cattle, hogs (farrow to finish), and she also worked as a nurse for 25 years at Park Jefferson Horse Track, Sodrac Park Dog Track and Atokad Horse Track. She also worked for a number of years for the Farm Agency Committee in Elk Point, and she also worked at the Gift Shop at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City.
Bridget loved mowing on her Ford Tractor and riding lawnmower. She enjoyed having tea with anybody, especially her dear friends, Liesel and Dieter Hallwas. She sometimes celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at the parade in Sioux Falls, and later that night at Beano and Sherry’s Casino in North Sioux City. She loved to go to dances and mingle with people. She was a member of the Red Hat Society, the American Legion Auxiliary group; she went around to the bars and sold poppies for the American Legion fundraising events, Historical Society, Mercy Medical Auxiliary, and the Catholic Daughters of Jefferson, S.D. She was a very dedicated Democrat and enjoyed campaigning. Many people will remember her for helping others, to her it did not matter if they had a shirt on their back or not.
Survivors include her son, Eugene and Cheryl Flynn of North Sioux City; three grandchildren, Kelsey, Eric and Mike Flynn; one great-grandchild. “The Little Guy” Sam as she called him; nieces, Pauline Casey of Rapid City, S.D., Judy Flynn Rost of Sioux Falls, Jeanne MacLean of Sioux Falls, Jackie Gamberdella of Santa Barbara, Calif., Mary Kelly of Ireland; nephews, Tom Kenny of Ireland, and Leo Flynn of Sioux Falls; and very special friends, Randy Fredrickson and Liesel and Dieter Hallwas, that were like family.
Bridget is preceded in death by her husband, Eugene; granddaughter, Amy Braaten; sister, Winnie; and brother, Patrick.