Eleanor Hedwig Flynn

Eleanor Hedwig Flynn, nee Rossbach, passed away December 21, 2021 at age 92. She was born in the Bronx, June 17, 1929 to Arthur and Hedwig Rossbach. Her brother, Arthur, passed away earlier this year. Eleanor spent most of her life in her beloved Greene County, NY, ever near the Catskills and Hudson River, both of which she revered. She and her husband, Byron Michael Flynn, who predeceased her in 1986, briefly lived in California. In 1960 the young family began a cross-country adventure driving back east to be close to family. From the front seat Eleanor shared bits of history while pointing out the beauty she observed in the natural world. They settled down in Freehold, NY on a two hundred year old farm. Eleanor embraced the country life, planting a huge vegetable garden every spring. She taught the children to pick apples, wild berries and hickory nuts, all of which wound up in homemade baked treats. Before she was married a young Eleanor attended Traphagen, a fashion design school in New York City and always retained a unique fashion sense. She loved art, clothes, vintage jewelry, antiques and going to auctions and tag sales. She turned her interest in collecting books into a business during the eighties. She was never idle and incredibly creative. She imbued whatever she attempted with her own unique Bohemian style whether it be painting, drawing, sewing, cooking, baking or even dancing! She approached all things in life with style and verve. She was an artist. Throughout her life Eleanor was a striking beauty who exercised daily to maintain her perfect figure. She regularly collected compliments from total strangers to which she invariably replied “I’ll pay you later!” Her signature bun, or “up-do”, was iconic. She never lost her quirky sense of humor. In her later years, as Alzheimers gained hold, she became passionate about collecting fallen leaves which she arranged, framed and often gifted. She did the same with magazine pictures of children and animals, turning them into art pieces, giving them to whoever was in her sphere. She above all loved her family. She is survived by her six children, Ellen Flynn, Karen Salerno(David), Margaret McCornock, Catherine Flynn Hochheiser(Howard), Maureen Flynn Bagshaw and Byron Mark Flynn (Lynn) as well as fourteen grandchildren, twenty-seven great grandchildren and two nephews. There will be a private funeral for immediate family at Richards Funeral Home of the Mid-Hudson Valley, Inc. , 29 Bross Street, Cairo, N.Y. in the Spring of 2022. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Northeast NY Chapter of Alzheimer’s Association (you may donate online), or to the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA, 111 Humane Society Road, Hudson, NY, 12534. Condolences may be made at www.richardsfuneralhomeinc.net.

Eleanor Hedwig Flynn

June 17, 1929 - December 21, 2021