Fr. Edward J. Flanagan - Boys Town, NE - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Edward Joseph Flanagan emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1904. Pursuing the priesthood, he ultimately joined his brother serving the parish of Omaha, Nebraska. Moved by the plight of the homeless, Father Flanagan believed that by providing troubled youth with an education and vocational training he could nip potential homeless problems in the bud, so he opened an orphanage for at-risk boys in downtown Omaha which he dubbed ‘Boys Home.’

The orphanage quickly outgrew the original house and after moving to a larger facility in Omaha, eventually moved to a farm outside the city in 1921. The farm grew into a small village which Father Flanagan named ‘Boys Town.’ By the 1930s, Boys Town had its own school, post office, cottages and a boy-mayor. It rose to national prominence when it became the subject of a 1938 Hollywood movie starring Spencer Tracey as Father Flanagan.

Because of his experience dealing with orphaned and other at-risk children, Edward Flanagan was asked to tour some war-torn areas in Europe and Asia in the late 1940. While touring in Germany in 1948, Father Flanagan died of a heart attack in Berlin.

Description: Father Flanagan’s tomb is located in a beautifully adorned annex to the Dowd Memorial Chapel on the Boys Town campus. Date of birth: 07/13/1886 Date of death: 05/15/1948 Area of notoriety: Religion Marker Type: Tomb (above ground) Setting: Indoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: none Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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