Fr. Thomas Flaherty (1921-2001)
Father Thomas Flaherty passed away September 11, 2001.
Father Thomas came to our community from St. Anselm’s Abbey, Manchester, N.H., and transferred his stability here in 1972. Father Thomas brought to us great story-telling ability, musical talent, a love for the military and police work. He was an army chaplain, 1953-58, and chaplain to the Atchison Police Department, 1975-93. He was deeply respected by the officers and their families. Respect for his own father’s work as a policeman in Boston may have influenced the admiration that Father Thomas had for the military and police.
Father Thomas was an instructor at St. Benedict’s College and at Mount St. Scholastica College and taught at Maur Hill Prep School, 1963-1991. There he taught English and English as a second language in addition to being the police chaplain. Father Thomas had a deep fondness for English and was himself an English scholar.
Father Thomas was a genuine and outspoken man in what he believed. He and a former confrere would pair up on telling a story, in fact, many stories complete with dialects. One poem comes to mind entitled “It was Christmas at the prison.” He was courageous in facing declining health in his later years.
