Heartbroken family members and friends are remembering a 63-year-old Needham man killed by a car skidding in this morning's ice storm as someone who died doing the thing he loved the most in life: being there for his family.

Joseph Flynn, 63, was trying to help his son, Joseph, whose car was stuck on the ice, when another car lost control and struck him, according to police and his family members.

“My son was driving to work, and on Brookline Street I guess he went off the road, so he called the house and Joe of course jumped in the car to help him,” said Sheila Flynn, Joseph’s wife of nearly 37 years. “Another car was coming down the road, so Joe was trying to wave to him so he knew they were there — and he hit them.

“Joe went into cardiac arrest, and they couldn't revive him,” she added, breaking down in tears in the living room of their family home. “Joe took care of everybody, that’s what he did. He took care of everybody and that’s what he was doing today, taking care of his son, and in a split second, he’s gone.”

Flynn’s brother, Jay, said the younger Flynn works in the medical field and he and a nurse who lives across the street from the accident scene frantically performed CPR on his father until first responders arrived around 7 a.m.

The crash occurred near the bottom of Brookline Street, where the road slopes down toward Greendale Avenue and banks sharply to the left.

Police have not named or charged the 40-year-old Needham man who struck Flynn. The incident is being investigated by a state police Accident Reconstruction Team and the Norfolk District Attorney’s office.

The tragedy has left Flynn's grief-stricken family members and friends reeling, as they remembered as a near-scratch golfer who never missed a Saturday round, dressed up as Santa Claus every Christmas, and was happiest when surrounded by his wife, three children, two grandchildren, and four siblings.

“Joe dressed up as Santa and I was always his helper. They'd fly him in on a helicopter and the kids would bring their little children and sit on his lap,” Sheila Flynn said, recalling the annual tradition at the Charles River Country Club in Newton.

Joseph Flynn grew up in Needham and was a standout hockey player at Needham High School and at Fairfield University, she said, and he worked for Needham-based NorthStar Insurance.

Flynn’s youngest daughter, Stephanie Clason, 32, described her father as the “most loving dad in the world,” who had tears in his eyes every time she left his side, whether it was to go off to college or to her home in Connecticut.

“He was this big Irish Catholic man who was so in love with his family and emotional,” she said. “He was the first one to cry at a picture or laugh when we had a party. You couldn't say one bad thing about my dad, and you could be anyone you wanted to be around him.”

Clason said Flynn called her, her younger brother Joseph, and her older sister Jessica his “puppies,” and was known to frequently write them lengthy letters and emails.

“His ideal night was sitting on the porch with his drink and his cigar with family, music going on, the grill getting ready,” she said. “Nothing would take him away from that. I don’t know how we can cope without him. He was everything to us.”

Flynn's longtime friend and golfing buddy of more than 30 years added: “Anybody who needed help, Joe was there. It’s a cliche thing to say but it’s true."

On Sunday night, Sheila Flynn said, she and her husband joined some friends to watch the Super Bowl. With the game slipping away from the Pats in the second half, one of their friends started flipping around to other channels before Joseph took the clicker away. He had faith.

Later in the night, the group celebrated the win and posed for a picture around the television with Joseph donning his blue Tom Brady jersey and a wide smile.

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