Tom graduated from Lewiston High School in Idaho in 1950. He was an outstanding prep athlete as a teenager, competing in basketball, baseball, track, and golf. He was All-State two years in a row in basketball and also won two state titles as a pitcher in baseball. He later received a full athletic scholarship to The University of Idaho.
In college, Tom played basketball for four years, and at one time led the nation in field goal percentage. He was eventually named the Outstanding Senior Athlete of his graduating class. In 2002 he was inducted into the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame.
After college, Tom began his long career as a public school teacher/administrator. He first worked as a teacher and coach in Idaho, and then in Oregon, and then in Anacortes (WA), before eventually being hired as head basketball coach at Bellevue’s newly opened school, Interlake High School. Tom coached the Interlake basketball team for four years, in which they won two league championships. For the last sixteen years at Interlake, up until his retirement, he was the school’s Athletic Director. Throughout his career, Tom coached hundreds of young high school athletes and taught thousands of students in his classes. Upon his retirement, the Interlake gymnasium was renamed “Flynn Court” in his honor.
Tom remained active even after his retirement, as he competed in golf tournaments throughout the Pacific Northwest. To date, he is still the only person to have ever won the PNGA Men’s Master-40 Amateur Golf tournament three years in a row. He was a member of Glendale Country Club in Bellevue and also served on their board. He loved inviting his five grandchildren to take part in several summer Glendale Junior Golf Camps.
Tom Flynn, loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend, died peacefully on August 22, 2023, in Bellevue. He was 90 years old.
His obituary can be found here.
