Obituary for Judith Gwynn Flynn (Prescott)
Judith Prescott-Flynn. Jan. 12, 1935 peacefully at St. Boniface Hospital
May 1, 2022 after a lengthy illness. Eldest of five children of John Angus and
Mary Elizabeth Prescott (nee Miller).
She was an excellent student, voracious reader, and studied piano with Jean Broadfoot who developed in her a love of music that stayed with Judith to the very end.
These two qualities -- love of books and love of music, came to define much of her life.
Following high school, she worked briefly and then travelled to England and Scotland to visit with family. On her return, she resumed her education at St. John’s College, Winnipeg where she completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English Literature and began teaching there soon after. She had a strong vocation as a teacher and, at St. John’s, was a pioneer in paving the way for the upcoming generation of female scholars. This, at a time when academia was neither a particularly common nor particularly welcoming career path for them. Later, she took three years of unpaid leave from teaching between 1972 and 1975 to complete her PhD at the University of Alberta where she specialized in Charles Dickens. She then returned to continue teaching Victorian Literature at the University of Manitoba, Department of English where she remained for the rest of her career, retiring as Head of the Department in 1998. She was made an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College in 2008 in recognition of her academic service to the college and her work in the arts community.
Judith was always active socially and politically. As a strong supporter of social justice causes, Judith was very active in the New Democratic Party. She also served on the board of the Manitoba Arts Council during the early 1980’s and, after a brief hiatus, returned to the council as Chair from 1988 to 2001 where she was a strong advocate for women in the arts and made the support of individual, local artists a top priority. After retiring from the Arts Council, she channeled her belief in the importance of music to volunteer for Sistema, a Project of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and two local School Divisions providing free music lessons to children in underserved communities. She was a vocal supporter and very active in fundraising and advocacy on their behalf for over two decades. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee medal in recognition of her contribution to Canada in the areas of the arts and social justice.
Kind, generous, loyal, passionate, mentor, valued colleague, wonderful teacher, incisive sense of humour, brilliant professor, "changed my life forever", and loyal friend are all words that come up frequently in tributes to her. She is spoken of with enormous affection by those that worked with her or had the pleasure of being one her many students with whom she happily shared her love of literature. She is also known as a passionate defender of those who have been treated unjustly and as one willing to step up and shoulder more than her fair share of responsibility to get things accomplished.
Family was paramount to Judith and throughout her career and life Judith was always attentive to those she loved. She adored being surrounded by large gatherings of friends and family and always met new people with acceptance and a generosity of spirit. She had a keen sense of humour and was fiercely loyal to those she cared about. In this, the Pandemic took a real toll on her, depriving her of the presence of many of those to whom she felt closest. But, even in the latter stages of her illness, Judith remained very active, playing piano, reading, teaching herself French, and corresponding with her many friends and overseas family members. We will all miss her presence deeply.
Predeceased by her parents, son Benjamin, son-in-law Brett Waddell, daughter-in-law Sheri, and her sister Carolyn, she is survived by her husband of sixty years, Reverend Canon Peter Flynn, daughter, Catherine Mary Flynn, grandson Breandan Waddell-Flynn and her siblings Tom Prescott and wife Lorraine, Joan Colnett and husband Russell, and Lorna Prescott, her many nieces and nephews and numerous extended family in England.
The family would like to thank all attending staff at the Grace and St Boniface Hospitals for their kindness and compassion.
Donations in Judith's name may be made to Sistema Winnipeg c/o Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, 2110 One Lombard Place, Winnipeg, R3B 0X3.
For those unable to attend, the service will be live streamed on the church's Facebook page.
https://www.stgeorges.mb.ca/saved/
May 1, 2022 after a lengthy illness. Eldest of five children of John Angus and
Mary Elizabeth Prescott (nee Miller).
She was an excellent student, voracious reader, and studied piano with Jean Broadfoot who developed in her a love of music that stayed with Judith to the very end.
These two qualities -- love of books and love of music, came to define much of her life.
Following high school, she worked briefly and then travelled to England and Scotland to visit with family. On her return, she resumed her education at St. John’s College, Winnipeg where she completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English Literature and began teaching there soon after. She had a strong vocation as a teacher and, at St. John’s, was a pioneer in paving the way for the upcoming generation of female scholars. This, at a time when academia was neither a particularly common nor particularly welcoming career path for them. Later, she took three years of unpaid leave from teaching between 1972 and 1975 to complete her PhD at the University of Alberta where she specialized in Charles Dickens. She then returned to continue teaching Victorian Literature at the University of Manitoba, Department of English where she remained for the rest of her career, retiring as Head of the Department in 1998. She was made an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College in 2008 in recognition of her academic service to the college and her work in the arts community.
Judith was always active socially and politically. As a strong supporter of social justice causes, Judith was very active in the New Democratic Party. She also served on the board of the Manitoba Arts Council during the early 1980’s and, after a brief hiatus, returned to the council as Chair from 1988 to 2001 where she was a strong advocate for women in the arts and made the support of individual, local artists a top priority. After retiring from the Arts Council, she channeled her belief in the importance of music to volunteer for Sistema, a Project of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and two local School Divisions providing free music lessons to children in underserved communities. She was a vocal supporter and very active in fundraising and advocacy on their behalf for over two decades. In 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee medal in recognition of her contribution to Canada in the areas of the arts and social justice.
Kind, generous, loyal, passionate, mentor, valued colleague, wonderful teacher, incisive sense of humour, brilliant professor, "changed my life forever", and loyal friend are all words that come up frequently in tributes to her. She is spoken of with enormous affection by those that worked with her or had the pleasure of being one her many students with whom she happily shared her love of literature. She is also known as a passionate defender of those who have been treated unjustly and as one willing to step up and shoulder more than her fair share of responsibility to get things accomplished.
Family was paramount to Judith and throughout her career and life Judith was always attentive to those she loved. She adored being surrounded by large gatherings of friends and family and always met new people with acceptance and a generosity of spirit. She had a keen sense of humour and was fiercely loyal to those she cared about. In this, the Pandemic took a real toll on her, depriving her of the presence of many of those to whom she felt closest. But, even in the latter stages of her illness, Judith remained very active, playing piano, reading, teaching herself French, and corresponding with her many friends and overseas family members. We will all miss her presence deeply.
Predeceased by her parents, son Benjamin, son-in-law Brett Waddell, daughter-in-law Sheri, and her sister Carolyn, she is survived by her husband of sixty years, Reverend Canon Peter Flynn, daughter, Catherine Mary Flynn, grandson Breandan Waddell-Flynn and her siblings Tom Prescott and wife Lorraine, Joan Colnett and husband Russell, and Lorna Prescott, her many nieces and nephews and numerous extended family in England.
The family would like to thank all attending staff at the Grace and St Boniface Hospitals for their kindness and compassion.
Donations in Judith's name may be made to Sistema Winnipeg c/o Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, 2110 One Lombard Place, Winnipeg, R3B 0X3.
For those unable to attend, the service will be live streamed on the church's Facebook page.
https://www.stgeorges.mb.ca/saved/