Obituary: Timothy McFlynn

October 14, 1942 – May 24, 2025

Timothy McFlynn, longtime local attorney, mediator, conservationist, mentor, and friend, passed away peacefully on Saturday 24 May 2025, surrounded by family in his home in Carbondale, CO.

Tim will be missed by many in the community. Throughout nearly 40 years living in the Roaring Fork Valley, his work on protecting access and preserving the beauty of the natural landscape will be appreciated by generations to come. But perhaps more deeply felt than the legacy of his work on the natural landscape and civic life, is the impression he has left on all those who knew and loved him.

Tim was a man of the people, and a vessel of boundless, radiant energy and optimism. He loved playing polo and polocross, river rafting and hiking, great parties and Halloween, reading the New Yorker and eating ice cream. He also loved to share interminable vacation slideshows with his friends and family.

Tim was born 14 October 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Jack and Dottie Flynn. He grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois, with his brothers Terry and Tom, and his sister Susan, who died when he was very young. Tim attended Culver Military Academy and the Air Force Academy and then went on to graduate from Stanford University (1964) and Stanford Law School (1967), where he met his former wife and had his first two children. He supported his young family during law school by starting a self pay cafe at the law school selling coffee and sandwiches.

Before moving to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1987, Tim lived in Santa Monica, California, where he met his wife Donna and had their three children, and where he developed his early career focusing on social justice and civil rights.

In Los Angeles in the 1970s and 1980s, Tim fought tirelessly to ensure that our rights were not violated by those in power. Tim worked as a deputy district attorney for LA County, prosecuting white collar crime and police misconduct. While working for the renowned civil rights firm Center for Law in the Public Interest, he brought a high-profile case to the California Supreme Court that reformed Los Angeles City procedures for arresting and detaining public drunks. And he brought a precedent setting Title VII civil rights case to the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that led to the hiring of and equal pay for women and minorities by public entities like police and fire departments. In 1982, he founded the Public Justice Foundation and continued to work for those who don’t have a voice – juvenile offenders, the young victims of domestic crime, and victims of mistaken identity.

Tim was a keen adventurer, logging countless river miles, riding trails and mountains on horseback, and winding through the land on his motorcycle. He first came to Aspen in his youth with his parents, where they skied on wooden skis, and his mom helped decorate the Hotel Jerome at Christmas in 1952. But it was his sense of adventure—and a riotous river trip in 1981 with dear friend and local legend Jim Ward—that led Tim and Donna to move their family to the valley in 1987. Upon their arrival, Tim settled into his new mountain home in Emma, and started his law practice in Aspen.

Longtime friend and colleague Mark Harvey said, “When Tim found a civic cause that he believed in, he would pursue it relentlessly with his considerable intelligence and infinite energy. Not for months or years, but for decades.”

Tim was a persistent campaigner for social and environmental justice. His transformative contributions to conservation and civic life in the Roaring Fork Valley are vast.

Soon after his arrival to Aspen, the Friends of Hunter Creek seized upon his experience to help them to “Free Hunter Creek.” Tim led the 13-year legal battle to secure preservation of the National Forest and Hunter-Frying Pan Wilderness. And in 2021, he was closely involved in protecting the many historical buildings and artifacts throughout Hunter Creek valley, supporting colleagues to form the Hunter Creek Historical Foundation.

In response to the threat of further housing and development, Tim co-founded the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails program in 1990, and built a strategy and cohort to get it funded. Over the following two decades, Tim worked with Dale Will and others to facilitate over $100 million in conservation projects, including Sky Mountain Park, a 2,500-acre collection of open space parcels on the edge of Snowmass Village, and playing a significant role in protecting more than 20,000 acres of land and managing over 80 miles of trails in the Roaring Fork Watershed.

Tim’s conservation efforts with Wilderness Workshop reached beyond the Roaring Fork Valley, and his tenure was marked by significant contributions to the organization’s mission of protecting public lands in western Colorado. Tim served as president from 2003 to 2013, and on its board for many more. During his leadership, Wilderness Workshop evolved into a prominent conservation watchdog, advocating for the preservation of ecologically significant areas such as the Thompson Divide, Crystal River Valley, and Roan Plateau.

Tim established Public Council of the Rockies in 1999, and served as its executive director until 2022. Through Public Council, Tim dedicated his time to addressing significant conservation, water, energy, and public justice issues in the region. Tim fought to preserve significant tracts of land, including the ridge above St. Benedict’s Monastery in Old Snowmass. He helped start the “Smart Water” program, focused on developing the Roaring Fork Watershed Alliance to ensure sustainable water management in the area. And he actively participated in legal actions to protect the environment, such as prohibiting oil and gas operations near sensitive sites like the Rulison nuclear test area, and securing a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that protected water sources from coal bed methane drilling.

Alongside his dear friend, the late George Stranahan, Tim played a central role in establishing MANAUS (formerly The Manaus Fund) in 2005, as a social justice nonprofit dedicated to creating sustainable, community-led solutions to systemic inequities, and addressed challenges in education, housing, immigration, and economic opportunity. Over two decades before it wound down in 2024, MANAUS played a pivotal role in launching several impactful initiatives, including Valley Settlement, Mountain Voices Project, The Savings Collaborative, and Carbondale’s The Third Street Center.

Tim was also a founding board member of Aspen Journalism, and from day one was instrumental in developing its mission, fundraising, and recruiting board members. He was vice president and, according to Mark Harvey, attended almost every board meeting until his final days. Tim believed in the power of curiosity, and that investigative journalism would inform citizens and strengthen democracy. His deep belief in civic engagement, social justice, and collaborative problem-solving touched nearly every major initiative for regional progress over the last three decades—leaving a lasting impact on both the landscape and the community of the Roaring Fork Valley.

Alongside his social and civic work, Tim was also a compassionate professional mediator and dedicated much of his later career to settling personal and professional disputes through Aspen Dispute Resolution.

So, how does one man fit so much into one life, and have room for anything else?

Tim’s energy was abundant—an eternal fire stoked by his love for his family and friends, and for life itself. In Tim’s own words, every occasion, every trip, every meal, every ride, every round up, every visit, every friend was “The Best, ever.”

The glass wasn’t half full for Tim—it was overflowing.

A cowboy at heart, Tim spent much of his free time in the saddle, playing polo in California, rounding up cattle on the Harvey Ranch, playing polocross with his team based at Mt Sopris Ranch, or riding into the wilderness beyond Hunter Creek. His fondness for horses began at a young age, and the people he met through riding nurtured in him a deep sense of belonging and respect, and a connection and kindness to the wilderness that he shared with his family, particularly with his daughter Sara before she passed away in 2002.

Tim adored being a grandfather to his nine grandchildren. “GT”, as he was known, poured his love for life and great sense of humor into each of them. He showed up for vacations and graduations, took them camping and rafting, and never missed a chance to sneak an ice cream. With his wide smile bursting through his signature white beard and a twinkle in his eye, he was always ready for adventure, laughter, and silliness. Whether it was hiking or riding, rafting or gathering around a fire, GT would share stories and jokes with these kids and their friends, and draw squeals of delight that danced with his big belly-laughter. It’s no wonder that on several occasions during the holidays when he’d don his best Christmas sweater, young children lit up and whispered, “It’s Santa!”

To his family Tim leaves a legacy of a life lived to the fullest. And to the community and visitors of this valley for generations to come, his legacy is access—to hundreds of miles of trails and open spaces; to thousands of acres of wilderness; to representation; and to truth. When you hike Hunter Creek, or ride through the Crown, or enjoy an uninterrupted view across the valley’s ridges and floor, think of Tim McFlynn.

Tim’s final days were spent sitting in his favorite chair, listening to the birds and basking in the Colorado sunshine pouring over Mount Sopris. This valley was his home, and his great love, second only to his beloved wife Donna. They met over 50 years ago under a sycamore tree, as their story goes, and they turned the final page of their book together in each other’s arms.

Tim is survived by his wife Donna, his brother Tom and sister-in-law, Linda, his children Jane, Tim, Travis, and Abby, his son-in-laws Marcel and Jonny, his daughter-in-law Marina, his grandchildren Hannah, Joshua, Jacob, Jack, Chase, Zoe, Grace, Sara, and Flynn, an abundance of friends, and his dog Moose.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to Hunter Creek Historical Foundation and Aspen Journalism.

A celebration of Tim’s life and memory will be held in August. Details will be made available soon