Anna C. Flynn
January 16, 1920 — February 28, 2014
Anna Christine Flynn was born on January 16, 1920 to Niels and Bertha (Clausen) Bennedsen and grew up in Kimballton, Iowa, as a first generation American born to Danish immigrants. She attended school in Kimballton through the tenth grade. In order to finish her schooling and graduate, she lived with the superintendent and his wife in Audubon. Her father came to pick her up for the weekends.
It was as a teenager that Anna decided to become a nurse, having watched her sister Helga badly burned and later suffer a ruptured appendix and a neighbor boy die within days of an infection to his cut foot. She was accepted into Immanuel Lutheran Hospital’s nursing school in Omaha, Nebraska but had to wait a year until she turned 18. During that year, she did housework in Des Moines and saved the $90 she needed for the three years tuition.
Anna and her friend Helen graduated from nursing school together, sat for the boards, and received notice that they had passed the IA Nursing Boards on December 8, 1941 - the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They were enlisted in the Army Nurses Corps in August of 1942 and stationed at Camp Carson, Colorado.
The first night at camp, a group of nurses started walking to the USO show when a jeep pulled up and offered them a ride. That was the first time Anna met 2nd Lt. Tom Flynn. They saw or talked to each other every day after that. When Anna received orders transferring her to the Aleutian Islands, Tom proposed marriage. On September 13, 1942, just one month after their meeting, Anna was married to Tom at the Camp Carson Chapel. She received her discharge from the military just ninety-four days after her enlistment and began her life being an officer’s wife. They lived in Colorado Springs while Tom was stationed at Camp Carson. They moved around the country until Tom was sent to Europe to fight. She stayed with her sister in Minneapolis until his return from POW camp.
After Tom’s discharge, he went to Iowa State College and graduated in 1950 with a veterinarian degree. They returned to the Kimballton area where he started his practice and they raised their family. Eventually, Anna returned to nursing. She worked at Salem Lutheran Home in Elk Horn until retiring.
Anna died peacefully surrounded by family on Friday, February 28, 2014, having attained the age of ninety-four years, one month, and twelve days. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, brother Ole, and sister Helga.
She is survived by her children: Joyce and her husband Gary French of Colo, Iowa, John Flynn and his wife Kristin of Davenport, Iowa, Teresa and her husband Charles Hogate of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Joan Karr and her husband Michael Arceneaux of Atlanta, Georgia, Margaret and her husband Joseph Peters of Southside, Alabama, Patricia Flynn of Iowa City, Iowa, William Flynn and his wife Natassa of Omaha, Nebraska, and Alice Flynn and her husband Jeff Reid of Portland, Oregon; nineteen grandchildren: Melissa, Tim, Christina, Ryan, Scott, Damian, Lexi, Brad, Tyler, Laura, Katie, Becky, Tom, Shannon, Chelsea, Katrina, Robert, Josh, and Justin; twelve great-grandchildren: Taylor, Mason, Ethan, Kenneth, Abbie, Gary, Cameron, Dominic, Dakota, Charlotte, Jackson, and Noah; sister Eva Hansen of Luck, Wisconsin; brother Magnus Bennedsen of Pamona, California; other family members and friends.
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It was as a teenager that Anna decided to become a nurse, having watched her sister Helga badly burned and later suffer a ruptured appendix and a neighbor boy die within days of an infection to his cut foot. She was accepted into Immanuel Lutheran Hospital’s nursing school in Omaha, Nebraska but had to wait a year until she turned 18. During that year, she did housework in Des Moines and saved the $90 she needed for the three years tuition.
Anna and her friend Helen graduated from nursing school together, sat for the boards, and received notice that they had passed the IA Nursing Boards on December 8, 1941 - the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They were enlisted in the Army Nurses Corps in August of 1942 and stationed at Camp Carson, Colorado.
The first night at camp, a group of nurses started walking to the USO show when a jeep pulled up and offered them a ride. That was the first time Anna met 2nd Lt. Tom Flynn. They saw or talked to each other every day after that. When Anna received orders transferring her to the Aleutian Islands, Tom proposed marriage. On September 13, 1942, just one month after their meeting, Anna was married to Tom at the Camp Carson Chapel. She received her discharge from the military just ninety-four days after her enlistment and began her life being an officer’s wife. They lived in Colorado Springs while Tom was stationed at Camp Carson. They moved around the country until Tom was sent to Europe to fight. She stayed with her sister in Minneapolis until his return from POW camp.
After Tom’s discharge, he went to Iowa State College and graduated in 1950 with a veterinarian degree. They returned to the Kimballton area where he started his practice and they raised their family. Eventually, Anna returned to nursing. She worked at Salem Lutheran Home in Elk Horn until retiring.
Anna died peacefully surrounded by family on Friday, February 28, 2014, having attained the age of ninety-four years, one month, and twelve days. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, brother Ole, and sister Helga.
She is survived by her children: Joyce and her husband Gary French of Colo, Iowa, John Flynn and his wife Kristin of Davenport, Iowa, Teresa and her husband Charles Hogate of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Joan Karr and her husband Michael Arceneaux of Atlanta, Georgia, Margaret and her husband Joseph Peters of Southside, Alabama, Patricia Flynn of Iowa City, Iowa, William Flynn and his wife Natassa of Omaha, Nebraska, and Alice Flynn and her husband Jeff Reid of Portland, Oregon; nineteen grandchildren: Melissa, Tim, Christina, Ryan, Scott, Damian, Lexi, Brad, Tyler, Laura, Katie, Becky, Tom, Shannon, Chelsea, Katrina, Robert, Josh, and Justin; twelve great-grandchildren: Taylor, Mason, Ethan, Kenneth, Abbie, Gary, Cameron, Dominic, Dakota, Charlotte, Jackson, and Noah; sister Eva Hansen of Luck, Wisconsin; brother Magnus Bennedsen of Pamona, California; other family members and friends.
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