Longtime state representative Dan Flynn has died. A statement from his family said Flynn passed peacefully last Friday. He was 79.
Flynn represented Texas House of Representatives District 2 in Austin for almost two decades. The district includes Hunt, Hopkins, and Van Zandt counties. A Republican, Flynn won his first term in the state legislature in 2002 when he defeated Democrat Danny Duncan. Flynn went on to win eight more general elections. Out of those eight races, Flynn only faced a Democratic opponent in two of them. Flynn’s run in Austin came to an end in 2020, when fellow Republican Bryan Slaton defeated Flynn in a GOP party primary that went to a runoff.
During his nine terms in the Texas House, Flynn helped secure funding for the current music building and planetarium at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Flynn also helped create the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial in Canton. Flynn was an active duty Vietnam-era veteran and continued to serve with the Texas State Guard after leaving the Army. A funeral service honoring Flynn has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Lakeside Baptists Church in canton. Flynn will be buried Nov. 9 at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.