BAC Journal > remembering Former BAC President John J. Flynn

remembering Former BAC President John J. Flynn

2025/Issue 1
In Memoriam

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Former International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers President John J. Flynn passed away on February 12, 2025, at the age of 89. 

Brother Flynn was born and raised in St. Louis where he began his BAC career as an apprentice bricklayer in 1952. His formal service as a union representative for BAC began in 1971 when he was named a Business Agent for Local 1 Missouri. Three years later, John rose to the office of Business Manager, a position he held until 1982, when he was asked to relocate to Washington, DC  to serve as Director of Trade Jurisdiction for the International Union (IU).

Over time Brother Flynn’s accomplishments were recognized throughout the BAC and in 1986 he was promoted to Assistant to the President where he helped establish the IU’s organizing program. The following year he was appointed to serve as Executive Vice President on the IU Executive Board.  And in 1995 he was elected to serve as Secretary-Treasurer, the position he held until assuming the office of President in 1999. He was reelected for 2 terms and served as President until 2010.

His passion for the trade and his union were most clearly reflected in his unwavering commitment to the transformative power that union education and apprenticeship represented, a commitment  that gave shape to the BAC/IMI National Training Center that now bears his name.  He was also an ardent supporter of the Labor Heritage Foundation, which he and his wife Joyce helped establish into the preeminent institution for preserving and advancing the critical role that arts and music play in celebrating the accomplishments of workers.

“John’s commitment to BAC and organized labor was second to none,” said BAC President Tim Driscoll. “He was a proud card-carrying member of BAC for seventy-three years and was known across the International Union and throughout the labor movement as a tireless champion for the fair and just treatment of workers. The lives of thousands of workers were made better because of his work.”