Kathleen A. Flanagan

Kaye was born on July 8, 1941 in the Bronx, New York, the second of three daughters of Denis P. and Katherine Kelleher, both of whom had immigrated separately to New York from Cork, Ireland.

Kathleen grew up in the Bronx and graduated from St. Barnabas High School and then from the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing. She worked as a psychiatric nurse at Bellevue starting as a staff nurse and rising to the position of Supervisor of Nursing. She resided in Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan before moving to Maine in 1970.

Kathleen became employed by Catholic Charities Maine managing Holy Innocents Home Care Service in several capacities, culminating in the position of Director of Agency. Her work with Holy Innocents included the development of a program of respite care service for children with special needs in addition to the agency’s work in providing home services to elderly and infirm persons, families at risk of abuse and neglect, people with developmental disabilities and the chronically mentally ill. While residing in Portland, she earned a B.A. in History from the University of Southern Maine.

In 1974, Kathleen married David T. Flanagan, then an attorney employed by the State of Maine but at the start of a career that would take him through positions of leadership in government and industry. They moved to Freeport when David accepted a position with Central Maine Power and eventually to a home they built in Manchester by the Cobbosseecontee Stream. Kathleen partnered with David in the pursuit of public service and charitable work while David became CEO of CMP.

She continued to provide support and leadership to institutions focusing on medical and social services. She served on the boards of directors of Catholic Charities Maine, United Way of Kennebec Valley, Spring Harbor Hospital and Maine Medical Center. She was a director of the Samantha Smith Foundation and of The Children’s Center of Augusta. Kaye and David became major supporters of The Children’s Center, which provides support for pre-school children with special needs. In 2001, they helped fund a new building for The Children’s Center and, 20 years later, they led an effort to fund a doubling in size of that building.

Kaye and David traveled very extensively in Europe, Central Asia and the United States. All in, they visited over 60 countries. Through business and charitable connections, they developed friendships in Bulgaria and spent an improbable amount of time in that country. Kaye’s final trip abroad in 2022 returned her to Ireland to again visit with her Kelleher cousins.

Kaye was a talented musician. Raised in a household steeped in the music and culture of northwest Cork, she could play the accordion (pushbutton and keyed) by ear through hundreds of traditional tunes, the harmonica (with a surprisingly bluesy sound) and could carry a tune when called upon to do so. She contributed to many late-night musical house parties in her parents’ apartment on Valentine Avenue, undoubtedly to the delight of the neighbors, and even brought her husband around to contributing a humorous song or story at those parties.

Kathleen was predeceased by her parents, sisters Maureen (Kelleher) Hillman and Denise (Kelleher) Drum and her brothers-in-law Robert Hillman and Joseph Drum. In 2021, she was predeceased by her husband, David T. Flanagan. She is survived by her nephew, Robert Hillman, his wife Margie and their three children Kathryn, Robert and David. She is also survived by her late husband’s numerous family, which included his six surviving and one deceased siblings, spouses and many nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews of whom she was deeply fond. Kaye had many close friends, too many to mention, apart from Cathy Gavin who has been a steadfast friend since their days in New York and Diane Dupuis, her long-term housekeeper, helper and friend.

Finally, special thanks are due to the many people in her life who took such good care of Kaye over the past several months. The staff at Bay Square of Yarmouth provided her with a comfortable home with attentive care and the hospice team from Compassus saw her through her last illness with dignity and compassion.

A wake will be held at Lindquist Funeral Home, One Mayberry Lane, Yarmouth, Maine on Thursday, June 20, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 307 Congress Street, Portland, Maine at 10:00 AM on Friday, June 21, 2024.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to The Children’s Center of Augusta, One Alden Avenue, Augusta, ME 04330 or through its website at www.childrensctr.org.