Title	Mr.
Last Name	Flanagan
First Name	Bernard
Middle Name	W.
Maiden Name
Nick Name
Place of Birth	Dexter, ME
Date of Birth	1849-04-25
Place of Death
Date of Death	1933-01-00
Publication	The Eastern Gazette 1-19-1933, p.1
Obituary	Bernard W. Flanagan, a well known retired employee of the Pennsylvania railroad, died at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Edwin E. Shaffer, of 511 Eighteenth street, at 9.45 o'clock this morning of complications incident to his advanced years. He had been ill for the past month. He was 83 years old. Mr. Flanagan was born in Dexter, Me., on April 25, 1849, and received his education in the public schools of his native village. In his early youth he worked in woolen mills, the first nineteen years of his life having been spent quietly in his home town. While quite young he joined the village band and at the age of 19 could read music at sight. At that age he received and accepted a call to play in a band at Providence, R. I. The bandmaster, being foreman in the Franklin machine shops in Providence, gave Mr. Flanagan employment and an opportunity to learn the machinist trade. He worked there twenty-five months and then hired with the Providence Tool Company, which firm had a large contract to make breech-loading rifles. He remained there for fifteen months. He also worked for a time in a woolen mill in Providence. After spending five years in Providence and times becoming very dull, Mr. Flanagan came to Altoona, having a sister living here, and obtained employment in the Pennsy shops as a shophand on April 19, 1873. He worked in the brass room and then in the vise shop, but on Aug. 2, with 700 others, he was suspended. He then went to Bedford county where for fourteen months he worked in a woolen factory. In October, 1874, he went west to try his fortune. He found this territory overrun with idle men in search of work and returned to Altoona, seeking employment with George W. Strattan, the master mechanic, who told him he would give him a job as a laborer. He accepted and went to work in the wheel foundry on Oct. 28. In February, 1875, he was transferred to the lathe shop. He continued in the lathe shop as a machinist until he was transferred to the telegraph shop department of the tool manu- facturirig room, where he remained until his retirement April 1, 1919. He had been a resident of Altoona for the past sixty years. His service with the railroad company totalled forty-five years. In his younger days he took part in many entertainments and was a member of several of the bands that formerly existed in this city. His wife, Mrs. Johanna (Feeney) Flanagan, died in 1920. Surviving are one daughter and one son, Mrs. Shaffer of the city and J. C. Flanagan of Texas. Mr. Flanagan was the last member of his immediate family. He was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic church and of the P. R. R. Veterans' association, local No.4. The body may be viewed at the home. The funeral will be held Friday morning with requiem mass at 9 o'clock in Sacred Heart church. Interment will be made in Calvary cemetery. Altoona Mirror