Dennis Flynn, a war hero who parachuted into France on D-Day and eventually rose to be chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, died yesterday morning as he was preparing to observe an army reserve exercise at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.
Mr. Flynn, 79, who had been in poor health in recent years, collapsed, apparently of a heart attack, at his hotel in Pembroke, and was pronounced dead at Pembroke General Hospital, the Canadian Armed Forces said in a statement.
Mr. Flynn was mayor of Etobicoke from 1972 to 1984, the longest-serving mayor of the Toronto suburb, and was chairman of Metropolitan Toronto from 1984 to 1988. He continued to serve on Metro Council until the 1997 amalgamation that created the new City of Toronto.
He served on the Toronto Police Services Board and was awarded the Order of Canada in 2001.
Major Tim Lourie, public-relations director of the exercise, said Mr. Flynn travelled to Pembroke on Monday to observe a reserve exercise in which the Toronto Scottish Regiment (the Queen Mother's Own), of which Mr. Flynn was the honorary lieutenant-colonel, was participating.
"Unfortunately, he didn't even get out to see us here," Major Lourie said. The regiment received the call that he had collapsed in the hotel just before a group of honorary colonels was heading out to observe the exercise.
Mr. Flynn, was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1923. When he was two years old he migrated with his family to the Kensington section of Toronto, long a melting pot for immigrants.
In 1938, at age 15, he joined the Toronto Scottish and volunteered for active service at the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1942, he joined the joint Canadian-American unit that came to be known as the Devil's Brigade, and in 1943, he transferred to the 1st Canadian Parachute Regiment.
He jumped into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, where he was wounded by German fire. After recovery, he rejoined the regiment, jumped into Germany on Mar. 24, 1945, in Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine River, and was wounded again when part of his leg was shattered by machine-gun fire as he escorted two German prisoners across the Rhine.
As a result of the wound, Mr. Flynn walked with a cane for the rest of his life. "One of his most self-deprecating comments, when talking to young soldiers, was that he had made only three jumps. One was for practice, one was on D-Day, and the third and last was across the Rhine," commented Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Trayner, commanding officer of the Toronto Scottish.
After the war, he joined the City of Toronto's clerk's department, and rose to be protocol officer. He failed in his first run for mayor of Etobicoke in 1969, but upset the incumbent, Doug Lacey, in 1972.
In 1984, he was elected chairman of Metropolitan Toronto, replacing Paul Godfrey, now president of the Toronto Blue Jays, who was then leaving Toronto politics to become publisher of the Toronto Sun. His career as Metro chairman ended in 1988, when he lost to Alan Tonks, now an MP.
CORRECTION
Former Metropolitan Toronto chairman Dennis Flynn was a holder of the Order of Ontario. Incorrect information appeared yesterday.