Joe Flanagan retired in July after being the face of the alumni office — and thousands of alumni events — for 36 years
Story by Tom Missel | Photos by Danny Bush
I was giving the eulogy so I wasn’t going to risk being late to my dad’s funeral. I didn’t expect anyone except the pastor to be at the church when I arrived. I certainly didn’t expect to see Joe Flanagan sitting at the back of the church, especially since I told him pointedly the week before, “I really appreciate the sentiment, Joe, but DO NOT cut your vacation short to come.”
Ann (Flynn) McCarthy has been “great friends” with Flanagan for 50 years, both graduates of Bona’s Class of 1974. That tale didn’t surprise her at all.
“That’s Joe. I was at two funerals in one week this summer and he was there,”
McCarthy said. “Joe’s Franciscan to his very core and unfailingly kind. In all of his years at Bona’s, he went way beyond what his job description called upon him to do. But a lot of the things he’s done are only known by the people he did them for. He never wanted any applause.”
Flanagan didn’t have much choice but to be applauded June 4 when he received, to a rousing ovation, the Alumnus of the Year Award at the Alumni Reunion Weekend reception in the Reilly Center. His colleagues kept the award a surprise, primarily because he would have pooh-poohed the idea had he known in advance.
“If there was ever a guy who should be saluted, it’s Joe,” McCarthy said.
Alumni Services Director Joe Flanagan, ’74 (center), is usually the person surprising a graduate with the Alumnus or Alumna of the Year Award at Reunion Weekend. It was Flanagan’s turn to be surprised in June, however, when Acting President Dr. Joe Zimmer (left) and Vice President for University Advancement Bob Van Wicklin announced him as the 2022 recipient.
After 36 years of devoted service to his alma mater — two as a residence director and 34 as alumni director — Flanagan retired July 19. (He’ll stay on board starting this fall as a part-time employee to coordinate the Mountain on the Road series with Fr. Dan Riley, O.F.M., founder of Mt. Irenaeus).
“I think the hardest part will be not being here all the time to see where we’re going because we’re in such a good place right now,” Flanagan said. “You want to see where the university is headed with this new president and still be a part of that because I think Jeff is going to be great. I’ll miss serving with him.”
The back of Flanagan’s alumni trading card is filled with some remarkable stats: attending or overseeing close to 2,000 alumni events; going to hundreds of funerals and wakes; and traveling more than a million miles on the job — and that’s only driving miles. He’s lost track of all the air miles. Good thing he loves to travel.
“I went a day early to an alumni event in Washington state not long ago just to drive into Oregon because I hadn’t been there yet,” said Flanagan, who only needs to cross off Alaska and Hawaii on his list of states to visit. Oregon was the last of the continental 48.
Flanagan readily admits that St. Bonaventure has played a pivotal role in shaping the spiritual and professional person he’s become.
“This job gave me a vocation where I was working for something bigger than myself,” Flanagan said.
“I always knew this place is bigger than any one person’s sense of who they are. We’re bringing the gospel, and I mean that in a very wide sense, to the world. And the spiritual aspect to this job made me feel very comfortable and supported, especially with the friars. That’s something that’s kept me going even on the worst days.”
The two people with whom he’s worked most closely the last 24 years — Lucia Scotty for 22 years and Lindsay Retchless for the last two — called Flanagan the “ultimate boss.” When Scotty’s mother was dying from cancer in the late 1990s, Flanagan was generous in allowing her time away from the office to tend to her mom.
For all his dedication to the university, Flanagan never lost sight of what matters most: family, friends and faith.
“He’s the kindest, most caring boss I’ve ever had,” said Retchless, who will take over Flanagan’s role as alumni director in July. “He always tells you to put family first, and he means it.”
Fr. Dan has known Flanagan since he was a sophomore at Bonaventure and called him “a deeply thoughtful man who’s always held family and faith at the center of his life.”
“It’s been a privilege to work with Joe because he’s so much more than the person who organizes our (Mountain on the Road) trips,” Fr. Dan said. “He’s a true Franciscan minister to our alumni who shares his thoughts when he’s in the room. I don’t know of anyone in love with the university’s mission more than Joe.”
Tom Missel is chief communications officer at St. Bonaventure.
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