NEW ORLEANS — In a bright red sweater and lipstick to match, Audrey Flynn looks no older than a spry 75.
Instead, her many admirers made sure she knew that she was about to become a centennarian.
“If you want me to tell you the truth,” says Flynn, “I didn’t know it was going to be my birthday until someone reminded me a couple of months ago. Then the ball started rolling.”
The ball that started rolling, was all the accolades from New Orleans City Hall. .
Flynn’s professional life began with a nursing career at Charity Hospital. After that, she spent the next 30 years as a volunteer at City Hall, starting in Councilwoman Peggy Wilson’s office and retiring after helping then-Councilwoman Latoya Cantrell.
A City Hall press release notes that, over the years, Flynn “taught life lessons to the staff at City Hall, and to the thousands of constituents she spoke to.”
She became the go-to person who could be “relied upon to solve whatever issue was placed in front of her.”
And she did it simply. No Google Maps, no apps, no I-Pad.
The press release reveals that Flynn solved problems with just a “telephone, a phone list with new numbers written in the margins, and a pad and pen.”
“Ms. Audrey’s quick wit,” says the release, “coupled with her grace and humility (made) her one of the most beloved people in City offices.”
In honor of her birthday on Jan. 5, she received a plaque from the City, and a dozen well wishes.
She says she wouldn’t mind being a volunteer still for the City – yes – even at her age.
“Everybody seemed to think I should be reminded that I was 100 years old,” said Flynn on her birthday, “unbelievable.”