Suffolk County District Court Judge Patricia Grant Flynn dies at 63

Patricia Grant Flynn made sure no one felt like “a number,” whether she was advising people as a Suffolk County District Court judge or watching "WWF WrestleMania" with her son just because he was a fan, family and friends said.

Out of all the criminal court judges in Suffolk, she won Judge of the Year award in June from the Suffolk County Criminal Bar Association after receiving an “overwhelming” number of votes from hundreds of fellow judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, said Danielle Coysh, the association’s president at the time.

“She was strong in her kindness and compassion to people,” said Coysh, a defense attorney who had appeared before Grant Flynn many times. “She treated every person with respect and dignity.”

Grant Flynn was in an immunotherapy trial for metastatic breast cancer in Bethesda, Maryland, when she died Sept. 23. The Northport resident was 63.

First elected to the bench in 2014, she was in charge of the human trafficking court and domestic violence cases. She was widely admired for her deep intellect and mission — treating people with decency and giving them a second chance, asking “How did it work out?” or letting them know “This is going to help you,” family and colleagues said.

“Her heart and soul was in this job . . . one of those people who took the time to try to help people,” said Andrew A. Crecca, the district administrative judge for Suffolk. “She truly got along with everybody she worked with.”

She was equally devoted to her husband and three children, who admired her for being a “supermom,” said one of her daughters, Caroline Flynn, a News 12 Long Island reporter.

“Nothing made her happier than being around all of us,” she said.

While she was in school, the daughter recalled, her mother baked dessert for her class so she could get extra credit and rushed to school at lunchtime to bring homework the young Caroline had left behind. She even wanted to learn about the Spice Girls pop group, Flynn said: “She was a fan because I was a fan.”

She would always tell her children that if they wanted someone to be treated well, they had to lead by example, Flynn said: “You have to show people how you want this person to be treated.”

Her husband Robert Flynn, also an attorney, said he fell in love with her beauty inside and out shortly after they passed each other in a court hallway in 1977 while she was working as a college intern for The Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County.

Five years later in 1982, they married.

In her Judge of the Year acceptance speech, Grant Flynn credited her husband for teaching her to be respectful to attorneys and for being her campaign manager, saying, “He was everything I ever wanted.”

“We stood strong together,” her husband said. “There’s no perfect union, but in my opinion it was as perfect as it got.”

She got a bachelor’s degree in history from Notre Dame of Maryland University in 1980, then her law degree from Touro College in 1985 before starting a 16-year stint at the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County.

She took time off to be a mother and partnered briefly with her husband in private practice before working as an assistant town attorney for Huntington Town from 2006 to 2014, when she was elected to the bench as a Democrat cross-endorsed by the other parties.

Diagnosed with the disease seven years ago, Grant Flynn told her family “I’m going to fight like hell.”

When the disease returned, she did not let it beat her down mentally, Caroline Flynn said. “She was crazier stronger. She had such a will to live.”

Besides her daughter and husband, both of Northport, Grant Flynn is also survived by children Stephen Flynn of upstate Binghamton and Meghan Flynn of Los Angeles; mother, Georgia Grant of Brentwood; brother, Michael Grant of Smithtown; sisters, Colleen Kelly of South Windsor, Connecticut, Eileen Lyons of Palm Harbor, Florida, and Alison Casey of Nesconset.

Visiting hours will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the M.A. Connell Funeral Home in Huntington Station. A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in Northport. She was cremated.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Parents For Megan's Law.