Former Northwest Missouri State athletic director and coach Richard Flanagan passed away on Thursday, June 19, at the age of 84 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Flanagan’s connection to Northwest began as a student-athlete in the mid-1950s as an offensive and defensive tackle. After a 13-year stint as a high school coach in the northwest Missouri area, he returned to Northwest in 1971 as amember of the Bearcat football coaching staff. He would go on to hold several coaching positions within the football staff, as well as being named the head track and field coach in 1973. He was named athletic director in 1978 and would hold that position until 1994.

He was selected for the Northwest Athletic’s M-Club Hall of Fame in 1996 and was also inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:00 AM, Monday, June 23 at the St. Gregory’s Catholic Church,  Maryville, Mo.  The burial will follow at the St. Patrick’s Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 22 at the Bram-Danfelt Funeral Home. At 7:30 p.m., aParish Rosary will be recited and a sharing time will follow.

— Northwest Sports Information —