Flynn, James “Owen” Simpson, 25, of Dedham, MA, April 21, 2017. Dear son of Kevin Owen Flynn and Patricia Marie Simpson and loving older brother of Briana Carroll Simpson Flynn. Owen is also survived by his cherished grandmother Julia Bevan Cook Flynn (Mama JB).

Visitation and a Mass of the Resurrection will be held Saturday, April 29th at the Paulist Center, 5 Park St., Boston MA. Visitation will be from 12:00 – 2:00 PM, followed immediately by his Mass of the Resurrection.

Owen attended St. Joseph's elementary and middle schools in Needham, MA, and was a graduate of Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, MA. Owen attended the Boston College Carroll School of Management, graduating with honors.

Owen was the oldest member of his generation within the Simpson/Flynn family. From the day Owen’s “sis” Briana was born and Owen counted her fingers and toes at the hospital to make sure that she had the right amount, Owen loved, teased, and protected his little sister for his entire life. He was deeply loved by all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. When he was young, Owen’s summers would include spending weeks with Kathleen (Aunt Kathleen) Flynn McQuiggan in Southern California, where he would be forced to apply much more sun screen than he would like before attending surf camp. Owen would also spend time with Maureen (Auntie Mo) Simpson of Long Beach, NY, which included a yearly trip to Great Adventure Amusement Park and the Bronx Zoo. The relative Owen spent most time with was his Mama JB, who cared for Owen whenever he was too sick to go to school, attended every event he was part of, and spent weeks during the summer with Owen down the Cape, where Owen loved to play in the pool. He described his grandmother as having the most “heart-warming laughs, hugs and love” any grandmother could have. Through the many conversations with Owen over the last months of his life, one thing Owen made known was that he knew how much he was loved.

Owen’s youth was filled with all of the things most kids do. At Cub Scouts/Webelos he was more interested in goofing off with friends and knowing what the weekly snack was than he was in any scout activities. He dabbled in soccer, baseball, basketball and football. He was taught to ski when he was very young and soon became a much better skier than his parents. He loved the thrill of skiing and snowboarding, especially at the family timeshare at Mont Tremblant and over many New Years with friends at Okemo Mountain. For Owen, video games were more than a hobby. He approached video games as something to be conquered, playing through the night with friends. Forced by his parents to play the violin and viola for many years, practicing was never high on Owen’s list of things to do, but listening to music and attending concerts remained great joys throughout his life.

Owen was a voracious reader, staying up all night with his headlight and reading at the dinner table when he was young. One of the constants in his life was his love of fantasy and science fiction, from the Anamorph Series, Ender’s Game, and the Harry Potter series, to his present love of Game of Thrones. Family vacations were planned to coincide with the release of each new Harry Potter book, and the highlight of Christmas was always the release of a new Harry Potter movie or watching Harry Potter television marathons together as a family. He enjoyed that his father finally began watching Game of Thrones prior to this last season. Once his father caught up, they would watch each new episode at the same time so they could text back and forth. Owen always read spoilers beforehand and loved to tease his dad with misdirection about what was going to happen in the episode.

Owen was a very deep and complex thinker. From an early age, his way of thinking resulted in lively debates on everything from the length of a “timeout” to the existence (or nonexistence) of God with his theologian mother. At family gatherings, Owen’s quick wit and sense of humor kept everyone laughing. His thoughtfulness resulted in how much of the world saw him, as an amazingly empathetic, kind and sweet young man. It was his empathy with others that were suffering that led him to be a recurring volunteer and rider of the Pan Mass Challenge.

After college he followed his dream since middle school and headed to New York City to pursue a career in finance, a natural progression from his role as “banker” in Monopoly games. During the summer before his senior year at BC, he interned at UBS. After graduation he returned to UBS as an investment banker, working in Leveraged Finance. After three years at UBS he moved to a job in private equity at Veritas Capital. Prior to starting at Veritas Capital, he took a long-planned trip to Southeast Asia, the highlight of which was finally meeting, touching, and hugging his “spirit animal,” the elephant.

He will be missed greatly by everyone who knew him. May he rest in peace and watch over everyone he knew and loved.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in James Owen’s name to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org.

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