Michael T. Flanagan

Westbrook – Mike Flanagan, 74, well known and loved by family, friends, and coworkers. Passed away peacefully on April 10, 2020 at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, Maine, after a two week battle with pneumonia.  He and his wife of 50 years had moved to the Portland, Maine area a few years ago to be near their two daughters, Amanda Flanagan Wallace and Kathleen M. Savoy, Cumberland, Mainer and their four beloved grandchildren.

Mike was born in Watertown on December 5, 1945 to Michael J. and Mary E. (Prievo) Rima Flanagan and the family grew up living in many areas of Watertown, helping Mike meet and befriend kids from the whole city, and he seemed to know everybody in town born within a ten year span!  People said that he always had a smile on his face, and a story or joke or clap on the back for everyone.

He was a member of the Class of 1965 at Watertown High School and graduated from SUNY Canton (Canton ATC at the time) after his discharge from the U.S. Air Force and the Vietnam War (1965-69).

Mike worked in his younger years as a machinist and pattern maker at the New York Air Brake and as a journeyman mason.  He retired after twenty-five years from the NY State Department of Corrections at Cape Vincent, NY in 2007.

He married Linda J. Adams (WHS Class of 1968) in Pottsdam, NY on October 24, 1969 while they were both college students.  His survivors include his wife and two daughters and beloved grandchildren, Madeline and Benjamin and Amelia and William.  He is also survived by his cherished sister, Mary E. Germain of Bartow, Florida, a sister-in-law, Marie Rima of Lakeland, Florida, nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as Linda’s relatives and cousins, who loved him like their own, brother-in-law Steven W. (Vanessa) Adams, Clayton and Martha L. Adams, Dexter.

He was predeceased by his parents and brothers, Lawrence (Larry) Rima, Syracuse and Malcolm Rima, Staten Island and Florida, a sister-in-law, Susan Rima, Syracuse, and his beloved in-laws, Bill and Marilyn Adams.

Mike struggled against several separate disorders and a spinal stroke in his last few years but always kept fighting through it all, never gave up, and never complained.  For a little guy, he was feisty, strong and courageous.  He loved running (had done three marathons, the last one at age 63), sailing (he co-owned a 26-foot sailboat with his “brother,” Karl Kisner, and had many friends from his work and golfing days.  Mike was respected and loved by many and will be remembered and dearly missed by everyone he knew.

A Celebration of Life in Watertown is planned for late summer and memorial donations in his name can be made to: Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, 11 Hunnewell Road, Scarborough, Maine 04074. 

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