Family of Joseph & Mary Flynn Fund

This fund was established by the daughter of Joseph and Mary Flynn, a past TSF Recipient, who lives in New Hampshire and would like to give back to Wakefield’s students. The fund has a stated preference for those who held a job during high school.

The scholarship from the Family of Joseph and Mary Flynn is intended to honor the lives of two first-generation Americans who lived lives of quiet determination while persevering in the face of difficult odds. They ensured their children received the best education they could offer and now the fruits of that effort are being passed on through the TSF to a student in Wakefield.

Joe Flynn spent his early years in the Boston area, and as one of 7 children soon took to selling newspapers – first to have pocket money, then to help with household expenses when he lost first his Dad, then his Mom as an older teen. He continued selling Sunday papers outside church, and through the years, he put himself through accounting courses at what would become Bentley University.

Mary McEleney grew up in Charlestown, MA, a town she happily referred to as God’s Country – for she felt there was no finer place to live than Charlestown. Mary knew family hardship at an early age, when she lost first her Mom and then one of her three siblings before she even started school. A year out of high school she began working with “The Telephone Company” and remained fiercely loyal to all things telephone throughout her entire life. All through World War II, Mary lived at home while she worked.

In the late 1940’s, Mary and Joe met and they married in 1950. By 1954, they found themselves living the American Dream as they built their first home in Wakefield and settled in with their three young children.

Education was a priority for Mary and Joe and both made the commitment it took for him to get an undergraduate degree. Joe worked during the day and attended Northeastern University classes at night and graduated in 1960. His graduation picture shows him smiling proudly with his wife and six children by his side; the youngest child was only two weeks old. Through determination and will, he continued his education and received an MBA from Northeastern shortly before the seventh child completed the family. In the best way they could, Mary and Joe made sure the children learned the lessons of pushing ahead for an education.

The drive to “Do what you can for yourself” was taught early, and was supported by Joe and Mary, for that too was a common value for both – whether it came from Old Ireland or America wasn’t important. They felt that things had much more value if you worked for them yourself. And together they gave their children what they had not known – the security of parents there for them, family fun and an emphasis on continued learning.