Laurie Cree Flynn Memorial Scholarship

Laurie Cree Flynn grew up in Arlington and attended C.B. Berry Elementary, J. C. Ferguson Junior High and Sam Houston High School. The third of four children to John and Margaret Cree, Laurie was a free spirit and, as noted in her yearbooks from Ferguson and Sam Houston, “a sweet, cute, and very nice girl.”

She was a typical kid growing up in, at the time, the small town of Arlington. She loved riding her bike in the neighborhood, going to Six Flags Over Texas and Seven Seas. As a kid, she loved Griff’s Hamburgers, dancing at the Meadowbrook Park teen center, and being home when the streetlights came on.

Her volunteering spirit started as a candy striper with Karen Kruger in Arlington many years ago.

After high school, she married and had a son. The baby consumed her life, but her sheer determination to meet life head-on got the two of them through some rough times. For the first five years of her son’s life, she worked hard to provide for him with assistance from mom and dad.

In September 1974, her life changed when a new man entered her life. He was in the United States Navy stationed at the Naval Air Station Dallas in Grand Prairie. He was a Yankee (born in Maryland), but she was ok with that. They dated for about a year, and he popped the question, “Will you marry me,” and their lives started together. The three of them took off for a life in the military. Oh, by the way, she had another child to keep her even busier. The boys always felt her love, even when they did something wrong. When Laurie worked, it was always 9 am to 2 pm, so she was there for breakfast and there when they came home. Her children and grandchildren were her life to the end.

The volunteering fire lit within her when they moved to Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. The fire stayed lit for the rest of her life.

Volunteering was a passion for Laurie. From her past of struggling to make ends meet, she felt fortunate to be in a situation to give back to the younger military members and their families. She joined the Navy Wives Club to raise money to help families in need. There were the hoagie sales, the bake sales, car washes. You name it, and they did it. She became President of the club and served for two years. During the same tour, she was the “Base Ombudsman.” Meaning she had a direct link between her and the commanding officer. Again, she used the two positions to assist young military families in need. It was not an easy volunteer job. She heard many disturbing facts that she never shared, by the way.

Her passion for family and volunteering continued as the family moved back to the Great State of Texas. The twilight of her life with her husband in the military. Again, she asked to be the Base Ombudsman, a volunteer role, for the Naval Air Station. After about a year, she joined the Navy Relief Society. A national organization that raises funds to take care of young sailors and their families. She worked there as a volunteer in the thrift shop a couple of days a week. But do not think she never had time for the husband and kids. Working to serve others, she was always there before the kids went to school and made it home before they walked in the door from school. Her other volunteering work included: Special Olympics in Pennsylvania, Arlington Charities, Defenders of Freedom, Welcome Home a Hero, and the United Services Organization (USO)

Over the years, she always made time for her high school classmates, especially Debbie Griffin and Karen Kruger. They were always a phone call away, long-distance, or local, to catch up on other classmates. I think it was Karen that got her interested in the alumni association. She joined, and the love affair was reborn for Sam. Karen introduced Claudia Perkins and Sheila Ivy Young to her, and they became great friends.

Spring and Fall Flings – The flings always received a unique gift or a basket full of goodies that came directly from her heart. The raffle ticket draped around her neck and a few others, including Karen’s, with a “give me some money” from her classmates to raise money for the scholarships.

Scholarships – The money raised helped the kids pay for college. Laurie joined the scholarship committee to help choose the recipients. She read each application on their merit and could quickly pick her favorites and discard the ones that did not have the spirit for the honor. I would say her track record for picking the winners was about 70 to 80 percent.

Laurie’s vision… Alumni Provides – When Mr. Benavides became the school principal, he took an interest in the alumni association and attended meetings to talk about the kids. He was having issues getting the sports teams to come back after the kids went home for dinner. When brought before the alumni association, they planned to have different fast-food restaurants either donate or share the cost with the alumni. I am certain Laurie wrote a check for some of the food, but it was for the kids. At another meeting, Mr. Benavides mentioned the kids are not getting breakfast at home. He said, “You can’t teach hungry kids,” Laurie chimed up and said, we need a way to get them fed, and so the Sam Houston “Beyond Lunch” Food Pantry was born, which has now evolved into the Texans Helping Texans program.

This is Laurie’s legacy, a legacy for someone who never sought the limelight but was the force behind many good things in her 66-year life.

The $1,000 Laurie Cree Flynn Memorial Scholarship was established in 2019, and the family has committed to fund it annually for ten years. The selected recipient must show their volunteer spirit just like the Scholarship’s namesake.