Erlene Flanagan

1948 - 2019

Erlene Flanagan

Long time Virginia City resident, Erlene Flanagan, passed away on the morning of December 28th in Carson City, Nevada surrounded by the loving presence of her family. Born February 18th, 1948 in the Watts area of Los Angeles to Earl Faulkner and Dorothy (Auguston) Faulkner, Erlene's family soon relocated back to the Denver area.

After graduating from Alameda High School, she headed off to College at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. While there, Erlene and Doug Endres were married in the summer of 1968 and sons Keith, now 49 and Curt, now 46, were born. As the family relocated to different parts of the country, Erlene took full advantage of new, unexplored territories. It was an era before the internet so she headed to the local library with compass in hand to chart out places within 50 miles, 100 miles, etc., for her and the 2 boys to visit. Plans now in hand for day trips and over-nighters, she'd pack up the boys and off they went. These opportunities worked well toward her recently completed Bucket List Goal of visiting all 50 States.

Family business brought Erlene to Virginia City in the mid-80's and in 1986, she purchased Edith Palmer's Country Inn, a Bed and Breakfast which she owned and operated until selling in 1993. 3 months later, she married Storey County Assessor John Flanagan who was then in his 14th year of service. John came back out of retirement to serve 7+ years as a County Commissioner, passing away while still in office. Erlene was appointed by the Governor to serve the 5+ month remainder of John's term in 2010. Erlene & John often travelled, tailgated and enjoyed life's many adventures. More recently, Erlene blessed the life of Pat Whitten as they continued to travel and explore by land, sea and air wherever her imagination led them. Plans were in the works to travel the length of Route 66 in her new Tesla and a month-long cruise from New York to Rome was booked for late spring.

In addition to her father & mother, Erlene was preceded in death by her brother, Earl as well as John and is survived by her sons, Keith & Curt, her sister-in-law, Nancy Faulkner, Keith's fiancé, Traci and her son, Bisi (#81) Johnson, as well as her fiancé Pat and his daughter Tobi Whitten and her partner, Jim Harrington. A celebration of her life is being planned for late May in Virginia City where friends and family know that she continues to smile down on all from high above Sun Mountain. The family greatly appreciates your loving and comforting memories sent by email, social media, etc., and sincerely hopes you are able to gather one more time for another of her incredible parties. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests a charitable donation to Golden Retriever Freedom Rescue at PO Box 103130, Denver, CO 80250 (goldenretrieverfreedom.com) or the ALS Association at 1275 K Street NW, Washington DC, 20005 (alsa.org) or to a charity of your choice.