Robert Flanagan

Robert Flanagan, Jr. was born to Robert and Corinne Flanagan February 25, 1924.Siblings Henry Flanagan and Corrine Flanagan Dorr have predeceased him.He leaves nephews Robert & David Dorr and Patrick & Henry Flanagan Jr.On his wife’s side he leaves the following nieces and nephews: Donna K. Smith; John & Mike Sage; Marianne Kiken; Garry Dawdy and Chuck Lindburg. Robert descends from early hard working Irish settlers of New Orleans, Louisiana.With a strong work ethic, Robert or Bob as he was called, got his first taste of business with a paper route, which he took very serious.Realizing there had to be a better way, he was hired as teenager January 1941 as a clerk by the “General Supply Company”.At the same time Bob pushed through his education taking a correspondence course in Engineering.Soon he was working for a trucking line, gaining even more experience while still in High School.Sounds and festivities of Mardi Gras never appealed to him.Instead Bob’s idea of fun was taking a dip in Lake Pontchartrain! Bob eagerly signed up and joined a call of duty during the war.He ate up pilot training and was ready to graduate when to war came to an end.He received an honorable discharge as “Flight Engineer”, however not completing his training and commitment was always a disappointment to him.Through the years he treasured pictures of buddies and certificates from his enlistment period. All was not lost as Bob’s basic assignment routed him to San Antonio, Texas where he met his sweetheart and life time partner, Roselyn Flores.They were married March 4, 1946 at St. Mary’s in San Antonio.The newly weds settled in New Orleans were Bob continued to pursue his career. Gaining a reputation as being a quick learner and hard worker, Bob was hired within the Fishing Empire as “Fish Spotter” from a plane! In no time he became Chief Engineer in this company! From here he made his way into the industrial pump business and entrepreneurship ventures starting his own companies.Bob’s magnetic personality led him to some life long friends in the business world.In the early days starting a business with close friends was sealed with a hand shake!This was never challenged between Bob and his friends. Bob’s own Atlantic Gulf Supply, Corp was started in New Orleans, 1958.Through the years he built this pump distribution business and warehouse in the 9th Ward.He dealt with manufactures throughout the US and South America utilizing his mammoth catalogs and memory to calculate inventory and pricing.Fishing trips often served as an office when sealing a deal.Once Bob’s contract took him to a country that was in the middle of a revolution!He barely escaped the flying bullets as his plane took off! Throughout the years his employees and truck inventory grew with the business.Eventually he gained notoriety as Top Salesman in the pump manufacturing world.His reputation as a fair but strong willed Irishman had paid off. Bob Flanagan had another side – husband; uncle; friend; comedian; golfer, good neighbor; strong man etc.Bob was always ready with a smile and a mighty handshake! He was very proud of his strength and was always ready to take the challenge of hand wrestling.Then he could be gentle as a lamb when it came to little children.Bob and Rosalyn never had their own children but would adopt all the children in the world if they could.Nieces and nephews gravitated towards him and hung onto his jokes.Bob and Roselyn were always bearing gifts for nieces, nephews, neighborhood children, waiters & waitresses they befriended through the years.He grew close and took care of the Country Club barber as well. Bob supported Roselyn in donating to the Catholic Sisters of Charity in their many needs. April 28, 2005 was the beginning of the end for Bob and Rosalyn.Katrina hit New Orleans sending them to Houston, Texas to spend what they thought was a weekend.Six months later they returned home to discover all they knew was gone.Somehow their house and neighborhood survived most of the damage.While in Houston, Bob did not and could not skip a beat with work.He proceeded to set up his office in his niece’s house taking orders, shipping what he could and paying bills, bills, bills.This period was extremely stressful but he kept the business going the best he could with a crew of two remaining employees. When Bob returned to New Orleans he continued to work from his kitchen as his warehouse was suffering from the 8 foot flood.During the threat of Y2K Bob with drew a large sum of money from the bank and hid it under the ‘office fridge”! Now this cash was covered with worst mud you can imagine.With a lot of work he was able to salvage the cash. Bob felt the change Katrina had caused his business.Even more, Rosalyn felt this as her health was rapidly deteriorating.All their medical sources had left the city leaving them at a loss for help.Long time friend Jay Higgins and nephew Mike Sage came to the rescue.They relocated the Flanagan’s to the Dallas area to be closer to their nephew.Before long Roslyn fell and broke her hip.She had become too weak and was not able to survive complications.Bob lost his partner and life time support February 6, 2007. Nephew Mike Sage became Bob’s shadow and guardian angel as he had lost hope and direction.Mike wanted to insure Bob’s comfort and safety was a priority as he lived out his final years in a nearby Dallas nursing home.Robert Flanagan, Jr. passed away peacefully June 3, 2015 with nephew Mike Sage by his side.