PORTLAND – Constance Marie Flanagan of Pleasant Avenue died at home Jan. 12, 2004, following a long illness. She was born July 14, 1925, in Brewer, the daughter of William Herbert Coleman and Nora Bryce Coleman. She grew up in Bangor and East Eddington. After graduating from Bangor High School, she attended a World War II Navy nursing program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and Eastern Maine General Hospital in Bangor. Following graduation, she was employed as a Registered Nurse by Eastern Maine General Hospital. In 1946, Connie married Thomas S. Flanagan, also of Bangor. Together, they raised eight children in Bangor, Hampden, and Portland. For more than 40 years she devoted all of her considerable energy, intellect, and character to the task of raising a family. She made the dinner conversations stimulating and controversial, kept the cookie jar filled, and made clear to her children that they were expected always to do their best in academics, sports and activities. She passed on to each of them her critical thinking skills, humanity, wit and intelligence. Then after a 30-year hiatus in her formal education, she received her bachelor’s degree in nursing at St. Joseph’s College in Windham. She resumed her nursing career at Crossroads in Gorham and Mercy Hospital in Portland. After years of encouraging foreign travel among her children, she ultimately had the time for travel herself. Recently she has wintered in Hawaii, and later Florida, and camped in the U.S. Virgin Islands on numerous occasions. She also ventured off to Alaska and Canada, and visited the Czech Republic and Ireland with her husband, Tom. Her interests were eclectic and wide-ranging, fueled by current national and world events, her extensive reading, and the avid study of history, particularly the American Civil War. Connie was a voracious, life-long reader and will be best remembered for chronically and simultaneously reading in her kitchen chair while the baseball game played on TV and a talk show ran on the radio. She loved the State of Maine, Two Lights State Park, Spring Point Light, reading on the beach, walking through Baxter Woods and the Evergreen Cemetery. For the last two years, she lived stoically and courageously, while battling the loss of her sight and other ills. Connie is survived by her husband of 58 years, Thomas S. Flanagan; and her children, David Flanagan, JD, and his wife, Kaye, RN, of Manchester; Terrence Flanagan, MD, and his wife, Hope Hilton, JD, of Readfield; Paula Dobrow, RN, and her husband, Richard Dobrow, MD, of Marblehead, Mass.; Martha Whitener, BA, of Long Island; Nora Flanagan, BA, and her husband, Alan Curry of Belmont; Peter Flanagan, DVM, and his wife, Dominique Penninck, DVM, of Westborough, Mass.; Lisa Flanagan, BA, and her husband, Stephen Burt, MFA, of Portland; and Lt. Mark Flanagan, DO, USN, and his wife, Margaret English-Flanagan, of Jacksonville, Fla. She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren, Liam Hilton Flanagan and Patrick Flanagan Hilton; Rachel, Ethan, and Lucas Dobrow; Samuel and Zachary (Buoy) Whitener; Daniel and Arista Holden; Thomas and Rory McKay; Ana‹s and Lo‹c Flanagan Penninck; Atticus, Quilla, and Lucian Flanagan-Burt; and Margaret (Moxie) Flanagan. She is also survived by her aunt and uncle, Kathleen Bryce and Frank Bryce, both of Bangor; many cousins, nieces, and nephews and many dear friends. She was predeceased by both of her parents; and her brother, Paul Coleman of Houlton. A celebration of her life will be held 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 16, at the Wilde Memorial Chapel at Evergreen Cemetery on Stevens Avenue in Portland, Maine. In lieu of flowers, Connie requested that those wishing to make donations may do so to the AFS Maine Americans Abroad Student Exchange Program or to the charity of one’s choice. AFS envelopes will be available at the Chapel.
CONSTANCE MARIE FLANAGAN
