Dennis Flannigan – Thank You For All You’ve Done

I’ve known Dennis Flannigan for decades. He had a great laugh. I admired him since finding out he rode the buses in 1961. The Freedom Riders of 1961 was a nonviolent protest campaign that challenged the segregation of interstate travel facilities by riding interstate buses through the Deep South. When we met over breakfast or lunch we had other things to talk about like helping people in the Tacoma area, but the buses keep running through my mine.

Before I ever met Dennis, I admired a poster he created featuring a white dog peeing on a man’s pant leg, I think. This was decades ago. The message on the poster was “Always aim higher.”

We met for breakfast at Knapp’s Restaurant on North Proctor to discuss the needs for an organization Helen Mader wanted to create called Christmas House.

The organization would give out presents for families who couldn’t afford to buy anything for Christmas and yet needed something to stay warm and dry and for the children to not feel left-out and hopefully have something to share.

I promised we would have a large facility for storage of donations and handing out clothing and toys.

The Tacoma Amtrak train station in downtown Tacoma became our home base. Dennis took on the job of finding someone to back up the project with funds.. It took a little more than a day, but Dennis connived with J.C. Penny at the Tacoma Mall for the last season’s jackets and hats. They were last year’s Christmas needs, but they certainly worked for us. You should have seen the faces light up when families came to Christmas House and left with both toys and warm/dry clothing. Helen Mader’s dream continued on for over twenty years.

Time after time I saw Dennis work miracles and when I was president of the Rotary Club of Tacoma, #8. I made sure he was selected for the Tacoma Community Service Award. Lilly Warnick made the presentation. After the meeting I shot a photo of Denny smiling and laughing with his pants cuff drawn up a bit to show his white socks. Denny was big on wearing white socks.

I think Peggy has a collection of Denny’s art work via napkins. He simply sketched out ideas and possibilities. The years pass and things change. I was happy to see him get married again. His new family seemed to fit well with the old. Denny and his wife Jayasri and his step daughter Priya Manion treated Peggy and me to dinner the night before I had heart surgery. We enjoyed talking and eating. Later at home I just relaxed and accepted the surgery as no problem.

Peggy and I accepted the operation with a smile. A few months later we had some home issues that needed some work and have been rebuilding ever since. We were both dismayed when we heard of Dennis’ passing. At the Urban Grace Church, we were happy to see faces we recognized, and some we had to ask about, but we were prepared for anything. The speakers gave us all a feeling of family even if we weren’t really family. I wore white socks to the services just in case.