Augusta, ME --- Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Robert W. Flanagan, 87, formerly of Lexington, Mass., and Salem, NH, died peacefully on January 22, 2016, at his home in Augusta. Born February 11, 1928, in Boston, Mass, he was the son of the late Colonel Francis M. Flanagan and Patience L. (Coes) Flanagan of Peabody, Mass., and the husband of 61 years to Anne P. (Kane) Flanagan who predeceased him in 2013; the father to Robert W. Flanagan, Jr, and his wife Pamela, of Nashua, NH, Kathryn A. Flanagan and her late husband, Stephen Murray of Lexington, Mass., and Joan M. Lowrie and her husband, Thomas, of Augusta; and was grandfather to Thomas Lowrie, Robert Lowrie and Colleen Lowrie of Augusta, Eric Fischbach and his partner Sarah Singer of Arlington, Mass., Roisin and Mairin Flanagan of Nashua.
He was predeceased by his brothers Francis Flanagan and Arthur Flanagan, and by his sisters Elizabeth South, Patience Soper and Joan Goad. He is survived by his brother Eugene Flanagan of Canal Winchester, OH.
He was a graduate of Peabody (Mass.), High School where he was class valedictorian. He attended Sullivan School and received a congressional appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry upon graduation from West Point in 1951. He was a career military officer and lived his whole life according to the West Point code: duty, honor, country. He served in both the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. After retiring from active duty in 1977, he attended the University of New Hampshire where he earned his MBA. He went on to serve as a science teacher for St. Joseph School in Salem, NH.
A deeply religious man, he served as a lector and lay eucharistic minister for St. Matthew Parish in Windham, NH., where he was an active member for over 30 years. He was an avid football fan and enjoyed being the subject of many paintings by his artist wife.
ARRANGEMENTS: A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 10:30 A.M., at St. Matthew Church, 2 Searles Road, Windham, NH. Graveside services will take place on Friday, January 29, 2016 at 12:00 noon at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, NH. Those wishing to be part of the procession to the cemetery are asked to meet at the funeral home on Friday morning at 10:00 A.M. Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m., on Wednesday January 27, 2016 at the John Breen Memorial Funeral Home, 122 Amesbury Street, Lawrence, MA.
To send a condolence, or for more information, please visit www.breenfuneralhome.com.