ALVA FLYNN

PROFILE: Alva Flynn was born October 13, 1908 and spent his boyhood on a farm in Lancaster County, South Carolina. He moved to a farm in Western Oklahoma when he was 15 years old and attended Martha High School. He was active in the Martha Athletic Club, winning the county championship in three sports. He served in the 45th Division of the National Guard from 1934 to 1941. On July 19, 1936, he married Doris Ross.

HISTORY: Flynn got his first greyhound from his uncle, T.S. Riddle, who had brought the first greyhounds into southwestern Oklahoma. He began match racing before deciding to raise purebred, registered greyhounds. Early in his career, Flynn established a business relationship with Fred B. Clark of Huron Kennel, an arrangement that lasted 30 years until Clark’s death. When a tornado hit his farm near Blair, Oklahoma in the early 1980’s the kennel crates opened allowing most of the greyhounds to escape unharmed, although it took a week to find them all. Fifteen greyhounds were lost in the storm. Flynn, who also farmed most of his life, was still raising and training greyhounds when he turned 90 years of age.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Shortly after getting into the business, Flynn leased a female named LADY LIN from Highley Alderson and bred her to NEVER HAPPY, producing two outstanding brood females, LITTLE MICKEY and LADY’S HAPPY. Through this line came a number of exceptional female producers. He bred some of his females to the “WESTY” greyhounds. WESTY WHIZZER and FLYING SLIPPER produced the winningest litter of the time, the WHIZ kids. Some of Flynn’s best greyhounds were PARTY LEADER, TOP AGENT, MICKEY’S KING and LADY QUICK. He also finished out E J’S DOUGLAS who was inducted into the Greyhound Hall of Fame.