Obituary of John Joseph Flanagan

John Joseph Flanagan, 70, of Oakland NJ, passed away on April 26, 2024 surrounded by his family. He is finally at peace after a 10 year battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

John is predeceased by his parents John and Maura Flanagan, his sister Susan Flanagan and his daughter Tara Flanagan Smith.

He is survived by his high school sweetheart and loving wife of 50 years Christine. He is also survived by his sisters Mary and Kathleen, daughters Kerry Flanagan and her husband Fernando Zambrano, Sioban Amoruso and her husband John, Christine Pedalino and her husband Matthew, and Pamela Flanagan and her husband John Nyman. Also, 7 grandchildren Abigail, Liam, Audrey, Grace, Isabella, Killian, and Aidan.

John, my friend, my husband, my better half was the most polite, gentle and honorable man I have ever known. He was the ultimate protector. He often referred to our children as "the kidlets" or "the sisters". Each night, for many years, we would say to each other, before bed, "I love you..see you in the morning or see you in Heaven".

John had a very witty and ironic sense of humor. He was a humble person and a true gentleman to the end.  He was a walking encyclopedia, knowing bits of information in just about every subject imaginable!  He taught his daughters many life lessons, from being able to read a map to teaching them how truly important family is, especially in times of heartache.  He was so loved by his family and will be missed beyond measure. Our daughters were lucky to have him as their dad.

John was a selfless man who would always put his family first.  He had a heart of gold. He was proud and had a great sense of humor. Our daughters thought he had all the answers as he would know so much about every subject. He instilled in our daughters his deep faith in God which he knew would comfort them in hard times. He was truly a genuinely good person.

John  would always take the opportunity to make a lesson out of any experience .  He was a teacher at heart and would make a positive spin on any mistake or misstep our daughters might make.  He would build them up if they felt down and give guidance, but would always add that it was their choice. 

John was a proud grandfather and always supported his grandchildren in everything they did or needed...he always remained a positive role model and would think nothing of sacrificing for them.

John was a person who put everyone else first. Principled, honest, and always helped with math homework using any manipulative he could quickly find. He gave objective advice. Always happy to help...drive you to appointments, help paint the house when moving in and  babysitting, especially Abby. He would walk a gassy baby around the house for hours.

The fondest memories from his grandchildren included: grandpas french toast, taylor ham with egg and cheese for lunch and grandpa's famous meatballs; showing Abby how to shoot the basketball especially "floaters"; Camp outs in the backyard; playing in the pool and the trip to Radio City for the  Christmas spectacular; Breakfast at the Oakland diner; Going to Panera with grandma and grandpa; Grandpa laughing so hard at LBI when grandma got her hair caught in the fly paper; picking us up from school; playing "keep it up" in the pool. The younger grandchildren remember how Poppy was always funny and would always go outside with them and that he liked to play and make funny noises.

Grandpa was the number one and still will be the only number one. There were so many memories of him that we have. He made sure to tell us how smart we were and that we could do anything.

Grandpa always made sure we had a fun time together. Family was so important to grandpa. We love you grandpa!

John, dad, grandpa, poppy will be sorely missed.

Goodnight my love. I'll see you in Heaven.