| Former Mayor dies
Lakeland- Edwin Cecil "Pat"Flanagan Jr. former Mayor, city commissioner
and director of the Lakeland Housing Authority, died Thursday. He was
87.
Mr. Flanagan was director of the Housing Authority in the late 1930's and early 1940's, according to his wife Nell. He served as city commissioner from 1944-47 and again from 1953-56, and was mayor in 1946. The Lakeland native owned and operated Flanagan's Paint Pot for nearly 40 years, until he sold it to his son in 1978. He went to work every day even after he stated he retired until his health began to fail in 1979, said his grandson. The Flanagan family was well known in Lakeland. The family homestead was located on the site where the South Florida Ave. Barnett Bank now stands ( today in 2010 it is the Bank America ) Mr. Flanagan's father, Edwin Cecil Flanagan Sr., also served as mayor from 1918-1919 and was a member of the first city commission when the city changed from an alderman to a commission system of government. |