Sports Columnist
John Knebels
For
John “Tex” Flannery, Tuesdays were special.
He would arrive at the Bala Golf Club early in the afternoon and join
some friends for lunch. The personalities varied, as did the topics of
conversation.
Sports. Politics. Family. Faith.
“A fine fellow — a very good man and Catholic Christian,”
said George Beichl, 89, a retired chemistry professor who taught at St.
Joseph’s University for 60 years, and one of the “T.R.”s
(Tuesday regulars) at Bala. “He would tell us stories about just
about everything. He especially knew about sports, and different coaches
and players.”
On Nov. 4, Flannery died at the age of 85. The football coach at LaSalle
High School from 1956 to 1984, Flannery had been battling thyroid and
lung cancer for about two years. Still, every Tuesday he would either
drive himself to the club from his house near the Mother of Good Counsel
Church in Bryn Mawr — where he and his wife Rosemary were daily
communicants — or have someone else, perhaps “T.R.”
Tony Dunleavy, take him.
In fact, five days before he passed away, a very ill Flannery somehow
pulled together enough energy to attend one more luncheon— thanks
to a ride from his 18-year-old grandson, Danny. As it happened, “T.R.”
Tom Agnew had a camera that day and took a picture of a small group of
Tuesday Regulars. Front and center is a smiling Tex Flannery.
“My dad really enjoyed those lunches,” said Flannery’s
daughter, Mary Connors. “My dad always used to talk about them —
who was there, what they discussed. Those days meant a lot to him and
to our whole family.”
The Flannery clan — which includes Tex’s wife of 57 years,
Rosemary (nee McCarron); daughters Connors and Kate Brown (the Flannery’s
son, Jack, died four years ago) and 10 grandchildren — particularly
appreciated their patriarch’s send-off from LaSalle High School.
Droves of well-wishers came out to Flannery’s viewing and funeral
Mass, both held on the grounds of the school from which he had graduated in 1940. Along with countless other people Flannery had inspired during
his life, hundreds of former football players — many now parents
or perhaps even grandparents — paid their respects to a man who
wasn’t especially free with compliments during his coaching days.
But from the number of former athletes at LaSalle on the day of his funeral,
Flannery obviously had clearly displayed his love and concern for his
players throughout his career.
“He was from a generation that didn’t want things to go to
a player’s head, but at the same time, I’m sure they knew
how much he cared,” said Bill McGarvey, a St. Joseph’s Prep
alumnus from St. Andrew’s parish in Drexel Hill and longtime “T.R.”
“He was a very good man — a faith-filled man,” McGarvey
added. “He was a Catholic gentleman.”
Another “T.R.,” John “Mr. Doc” Dougherty, 82 years
old and a St. Thomas More High School graduate of 1944, was impressed
with Flannery’s intellect and perseverance.
“He showed an awful lot of courage during the last six months of
his life,” said Dougherty. “He had a million stories. We listened
to them. We appreciated them. He was really just a treat to be around.”
Especially on Tuesday afternoons.
John Knebels can be reached at jknebs@aol.com.