Town mourns loss of friend, dispatcher Libby Anne Flynn, 50, helped save lives via assistance over phone BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer Libby Anne Flynn OLD BRIDGE - A police dispatcher who is credited with saving lives passed away last week after falling unconscious during her midnight shift at the police station. Libby Anne Flynn, 50, a Cliffwood Beach native who was hired by the township in 1990, went unconscious around 4 a.m. May 17. She was taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center, Old Bridge division, where she was pronounced dead. She is believed to have died from a heart attack, friends said. The New Jersey Office of Information Technology gave Flynn the New Jersey 911 Lifeline award in 2006 for instructing a father on how to revive his 12-year-old son in 2005. The father had found his son unconscious in the swimming pool and was waiting for police to arrive as Flynn instructed him on CPR, according to Old Bridge Police Capt. Robert Weiss. Weiss said that Flynn exemplified the best of the Old Bridge Police Department. "This hit our police department very hard," Weiss said Tuesday. "The atmosphere here has been very somber for the past week. There aren't enough superlatives for me to define Libby Flynn." "She will be impossible to replace," Weiss added. Dispatch Coordinator Jeanette Nielsen knew Flynn as a friend and a coworker. "I knew her through her whole career. As a matter of fact, when she first got hired, she started baby-sitting my son," Nielsen told the Suburban. Flynn became like a family member to Nielsen, joining her for holidays and celebrations. "It was an instant friendship," Nielsen said. "She has been a loyal friend and she touched the hearts of many. Dispatchers lead people through the most difficult moments and Libby always did such a professional job." Nielsen said Flynn had another award coming this year for talking a mother through CPR for her infant, who stopped breathing during a seizure on May 15, 2006. "One thing everybody will agree on is, she was always there whenever you needed her most," Nielsen said. Township Councilman Reginald Butler said he knew Flynn for over 20 years. "I knew her before I even became a politician," Butler said. "Libby was a big loss to us." Flynn moved to the Parlin section of Sayreville seven years ago with her husband, Stephen. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her brother, John Conover and his wife, Barbara, of Waretown; her father and mother-in-law, Joseph and Margaret Flynn of Iselin; her sister and brother-in-law, Margaret and John Rusbarsky of Jim Thorpe, Pa., and six nieces and nephews. She was a communicant of Saint Bernadette's Roman Catholic Church in Parlin, and her funeral service was held at the church Monday morning. "There was not an empty seat in the church," Butler said. "So that told me that she touched a lot of people in her lifetime. And even though she never bragged about it, she was a 911 operator. She saved many lives over the years she has been here, and it's unfortunate that we were not able to save hers when she needed us." "She was a kind and giving soul no matter who needed help," Butler added. Mayor Jim Phillips, who grew up in close proximity to Flynn, said she will be missed by the community. "I was fortunate to know Libby all of my life," Phillips said. "... She was a joy to be around, and a consummate professional as far as being a dispatcher. She had a calm demeanor. Old Bridge has suffered a great loss and she will never be able to be replaced."