Brian Danforth Flanagan
(1938-1979)

My father was born on October 1, 1938 in Newton-Wellesley Hospital.  He grew up in Newton on Washington Street.  He was the third of three children to Rance and Miriam Flanagan.  As a boy he would go off to summer camp where he and his brother, Shaun, learned archery.  Brian took to it so well that in October of 1951 he won the 13 year old division of the Massachusetts Open Archery Championship.  He graduated Newton High School in 1957.  After high school he attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where according to legend he majored in pool, but actually graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

After college he went to Army Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  In January of 1962 his father received a letter from a Major General Tucker from Fort Dix informing him that Brian had been selected as one of the top four of nearly 2,000 young men who had just completed their advanced Infantry training.  My father was very meticulous in everything he did and I am sure that this trait served him well in the military.

After college and his military training he made the smartest decision of his life when he married Deborah Kinsella on September 12, 1964.  Debbie was the younger sister of his great friend Fred “Buddy” Kinsella.  Within a couple of years they moved to Natick, where my mother still resides today.  Soon thereafter came his two boys, Patrick and Matthew.  Then he started work on a two-story addition to their Natick home that he basically designed and built himself along with some help from my Uncle David.

He found his way to Riker Laboratories as a Sales Representative.  He ended up doing quite well and was honored in their Top Producers Club in 1977.  He was one of only 9 Sales Reps honored in their Top Producers Club First Level in the country.  For such an outstanding job he was awarded a trip to Hawaii in 1978 for him and Debbie.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer in July of 1978.  Despite only working 6 months in 1978 he finished second in the competition for the Top Producer s Club.

He passed away in May of 1979, only 10 months after his diagnosis.  Brian was a quiet man with a dry sense of humor.  He was a great son, husband and father.  He always enjoyed taking us camping, canoeing and to our hockey practices and games.  One of the greatest joys in my life was to name my first son after him.  My mother, brother and I miss him every day.