Bud Flannery, a founding member 60 years ago of our Club passed away on Friday, May 20, 2022 at the age of 91. His wife of 65 years, Joan (Cooke) Flannery, passed away in 2018. 

(Bud and Joan pose in 2015 outside their Acton home, in a photo by Molly Loughman of WickedLocal.com.)

BUD'S OBITUARY

To the man, to the myth, to the legend

In 2021, our Club honored him with Rotary International's "Service Above Self Award" - RI's highest award - for his many years of service to both Rotary and his local community. Then-District Governor Diana Nestorova, a past president and a present member of our Club, presented the award to Bud, stating "To 'Mister Rotarian,' as we fondly call Bud! [We have] great respect, big admiration, and sheer gratitude to Bud for all he has done for his Rotary club, the Rotarians, his district, his community, [and] for Rotary - here and abroad. To the man, to the myth, to the legend: Bud Flannery! You will leave a legacy of love and passion for Service Above Self." To watch the presentation, click here.

Helping people less fortunate than yourself

In 2015, Wicked Local.com profiled Bud in a story by Molly Loughman titled "Still Going Strong." “'[My father] was a 100 percent member of Concord Rotary Club, from when he joined until he died,' said Flannery, noting he and his parents were also members of the Boxborough Grange public farming/agriculture group. 'I couldn't have done half the stuff without my family - my wife and kids. They do a lot of volunteer work; it's kind of rubbed off a little bit. [Rotary] to me was taking your expertise and other people’s expertise and combining them to helping people less fortunate than yourself.'" To read the entire story, click here.

Good deed doer

In 1999, the Acton Boxborough Colonial Club paid Bud its highest honor with The Blue and Gold Award. At the time, the Colonial Club stated: "In Frank Baum's 'The Wizard of Oz,' the Wizard referred to those who help others as 'good deed doers. The Acton-Boxboro community is fortunate to have our own 'good deed doer, our own 'Wizard of Westie,' Bud Flannery. Since moving to West Acton in 1958, Bud has selflessly initiated and participated in countless acts of generosity, hard work, and dedication to Boxboro. ... Bud Flannery might have been born in Concord, but he now bleeds Blue and Gold." To read the entire tribute, click here.

Putting 'fun' in the Four-Way Test

When reciting Rotary's Four-Way Test, Bud and we, his fellow Club members, added a Fifth Test: "Will it be fun?" Recently, he recalled including that important question several decades ago.

Bud, may you rest eternally in Service Above Self peace - and fun!