Beth Thalheim, a pioneer in the trade show and exposition industry, died Oct. 8, after a long illness. She and her husband, Jay Thalheim, founded Thalheim Expositions, Inc. in 1954 and worked side by side for over 40 years. She was 72 and lived in Manhasset.

Major Thalheim shows included the Premium Incentive Show, Variety Merchandise Shows, National Merchandise Show, Back-to-School Merchandise Show and the American International Fur Fair.

The Thalheims staged the first trade show that opened the then new Javits Convention Center of New York by presenting the American International Fur Fair in April 1986. She later received the Kings Glove Award which is displayed in the Javits Center Lobby. Several New York City mayors have lauded the family for generating thousands of visitors to New York to attend their trade events. The company was purchased by United Newspapers Plc. in 1988.

Beth Thalheim made her presence felt continually. At her trade shows, she positioned herself at a desk in the lobby to greet each and every one of thousands of visitors and she always wore a distinctive hat and her prized collection of Indian jewelry. She was direct and outspoken. One immediately knew her feelings about any given subject matter. She enjoyed a reputation of integrity and promises kept among the thousand of exhibitors that participated in the Thalheim Shows. As they had been all their lives, even during recent difficult years, her husband Jay was constantly at her side giving her support and love they had shared over a lifetime. They were married for 48 years.

She is survived by her husband, Jay, her children Amy (Thalheim) and Bill Handwerker, Alison and David Thalheim, Susan and Neil Thalheim and nine grandchildren.

Services were held at Riverside Nassau North Chapels in Great Neck on Oct. 9.

Allan A.A. Flynn, a retired partner at the Manhattan law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, passed away on Oct. 10, 1998 at North Shore University Hospital at Manhasset. He was 67 and died as the result of a stroke.

Mr. Flynn grew up in Port Washington and attended the Main Street School there, graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1949 and Yale University in 1953. Commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy that year, he was released as a Lieutenant (j.g.) in 1956 after serving as a gunnery officer on destroyers in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. His father, Lieutenant Commander Allan I. Flynn, graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1914 and served in the Navy for over 30 years.

Mr. Flynn joined Davis Polk in the fall of 1959 after graduating from Columbia University Law School the prior spring. He had a distinguished career at the firm as a real estate attorney, serving on boards of Ticor Title Company, the Title Guarantee Company and Ashlee Publishing Company, Inc. A member of the Racquet and Tennis Club of NYC and the Creek Club in Locust Valley, he was also a trustee of the Society for the Preservation of LI Antiquities. He had actively pursued his interest in preservation with his wife of 29 years, Judy Flynn, at Willets Farmhouse, their 1810 residence on Manhasset Bay which they had lovingly restored. Mr. Flynn kept his treasured 31 foot Bertram sportfisherman Adios moored in front of the house.

In addition to his wife, Judy, Mr. Flynn leaves behind a son, Michael L. of Charlotte, NC; stepchildren, Lee R. Carlson of Tulsa, OK and Ellen L. Snodgrass of Port Washington; and three grandchildren, Arthur G. Carlson, Lee L. Snodgrass and D'Arcy L. Snodgrass. He will be missed by many others.