Mabel Howell

Mabel was born in 1922 on a farm in upstate New York, one of 10 children. She overcame much adversity in her life, including a year confined to bed with tuberculosis, which she contracted in her job as a nurse. After overcoming TB, she moved to Tombstone, Arizona, in 1948 for the drier climate and met Martin Flanigan Jr., a newspaperman who soon became her husband. The couple settled in Tucson, and with four children under 4 years old, Mabel faced another daunting challenge when Martin died following a car accident in 1953.

Mabel returned to nursing to support her young family and spent 37 years at the VA hospital. She got her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the UA in 1968 at age 46.

Mabel loved the ocean and spent many summers with her children and their families in San Clemente, California, as well in San Carlos, Mexico.

Mabel was also a gifted writer, producing several volumes of poetry and recollections of life on the farm.

She is survived by daughters Cyndy Flanigan and Colleen Nichols and sons Martin Flanigan and Tim Flanigan, all of Tucson; 12 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Helen and Peggy, both of Florida.

In addition to Martin Flanigan Jr., she was preceded in death by her second husband, Charles Howell, whom she married in the late 1970s.

Mabel had a deep faith and belonged to St. Cyril’s and St. Joseph’s Catholic churches.

Donations in her memory may be made to Casa de los Niños, PBS or the American Stroke Association.

A celebration of Mabel’s life will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at East Lawn Palms Mortuary. A funeral Mass is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s, with burial at Holy Hope Cemetery.