Larry Bernard Flagg

Larry Bernard Flagg was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 14, 1941, to Daisy Murphy Flagg and Bernard Flagg, the second of three children from this marriage. After a short hospital stay, Larry passed away December 30, 2025.

Larry grew up in Brooklyn, NY, attending the public schools there. He was most proud of being a product of Boys High School, where he ran track and played football. When he wasn't in Brooklyn, he had fond memories of spending time in "the country", better known as Farmville, Virginia.

After graduating high school, Larry began his undergraduate college career in Ohio, eventually graduating from Central State University. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he returned to New York for a time, but he later returned and worked as a food inspector for FDA. Sometime later he gained employment with the State of Ohio Health Services, where he worked with students who were deaf and/or hard of hearing. It was through this employment that Larry was afforded the opportunity to continue his studies at the graduate level. Larry started work on his master's degree at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio before transferring to Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee. From there he graduated with a Master's in Speech and began a long career as a Speech Therapist.

During his time back in New York, he had the fortunate pleasure of meeting a young lady by the name of Margaret Beatty at a party held at Columbia University in New York in 1970. Larry knew that if he wanted to continue seeing Margaret, he would have to go to church. He did and was eventually baptized at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Brooklyn. During his return to Ohio and, over the next two years, the relationship grew towards a marriage, which took place on December 23, 1972, at the church where he was baptized.

Upon receiving his master's degree, Larry and Margaret relocated to Maryland, and he began working in Baltimore City Public Schools, where he remained for 30 years until retirement.

There are several things that Larry really liked. When Margaret met him, he was a vegetarian. However, over the years, he began to eat meat. And he really enjoyed eating. He also liked music, especially jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz. He rarely missed the Capital Jazz Fest at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD and he would also return to New York for concerts there. For many years he, along with his brother, Victor, and their friends never missed their annual "guys' trip" to the Penn Relays. And Larry liked African art, especially wood sculptures. In fact, for a while, he tried his hand at it and some of it turned out pretty nice.

Larry was a man of very strong opinions and never backed down from a good discussion or debate. I don't know if he ever relented on anything but held fast to what he thought. No matter how "off" he might have been or the facts that anyone presented.

Larry leaves to mourn his wife of 53 years, Margaret; three children: daughter, Kala Flagg; son, Kerry Flagg; daughter and son-in-law, Dara and Layton Johnson; two grandchildren: Layton, Jr. AKA "LJ" and Ava Johnson; his brother, Victor Flagg and sister, LaVerne Bryant; along with a host of cousins, nieces, nephews and life-long friends.