Paul Flynn, 56, tradesman, Vietnam veteran, motorcyclist
When Linda Flynn of East Bridgewater urged her husband to stop working so much and take up a hobby, she thought he would join a bowling league. Instead, Paul Flynn bought a
''I said to him, 'You're not a real biker; you don't have long hair.' So he grew a goatee. Then I said, 'You're not a real biker; you don't have any tattoos.' So he went and got tattoos on his arms and a Vietnam scene that covered his whole back," said his wife.
Paul F. Flynn of East Bridgewater, a sheet metal worker and motorcycle enthusiast, died Friday at Brigham and Women's Hospital after a motorcycle accident involving a dump truck in Halifax. He was 56.
The oldest of 11 children, Mr. Flynn was born in Somerville and grew up in Dorchester. He graduated in 1966 from Cathedral High School in Boston before entering the Army. He fought in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1967.
''His father worked three jobs to support the family, and their mother was the backbone," said his wife.
Mr. Flynn pursued a career as a sheet metal worker after he returned from Vietnam.
His most recent employer was O'Sullivan Masonry in Brockton, where he worked for the past eight years.
In a corner store in East Bridgewater in 1987, Mr. Flynn struck up a conversation with Linda, who was charmed by his sense of humor. The two were married in East Bridgewater that same year. She was his third wife.
He purchased his Heritage motorcycle the year they were married. The motorcycle was painted with scenes from the Vietnam War. The front fender featured a portrait of Mr. Flynn's best friend, Doug Henning, who had died in combat. Mr. Flynn attended several motorcycle rallies, from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Sturgis, S.D.
He rarely spoke about his experience in Vietnam, his wife said, but in the past two years, Mr. Flynn began attending conferences for the ''Currahees," the nickname for the Third Battalion Airborne, 506th Infantry, First Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, the unit in which he had served.
''It was something he needed to work out. He reconnected with a lot of people he knew, " said his wife.
Mr. Flynn also enjoyed spending Christmas with his family at his brother William's house in Sanford, Maine, and taking his wife for rides on his Heritage.
Besides his wife and brother, Mr. Flynn leaves a son, Alexander of East Bridgewater; two stepsons, Richard Rockwell of Hanover and William Rockwell of Fairbanks, Alaska; his parents, Paul and Mary of Everett; three other brothers, Martin of Upton, Joseph of Stoughton, and Thomas of Wakefield; five sisters, Maureen O'Brien, Kathy, and Christine, all of Everett, Elaine Hennessy of Charlestown, and AnnMarie of Malden; and one granddaughter.
A funeral service will be held Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at Keohane Funeral Home, Wollaston. Burial will be at the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne.
