Rosemary M. Flannery, 93, Montco lawyer
Rosemary McCarron Flannery, 93, of Haverford and Avalon, N.J., a former Inquirer sports writer and one of the first women to graduate from Villanova Law School, died Friday, Jan. 23, of an aneurysm at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Rosemary McCarron Flannery, 93, of Haverford and Avalon, N.J., a former Inquirer sports writer and one of the first women to graduate from Villanova Law School, died Friday, Jan. 23, of an aneurysm at Bryn Mawr Hospital.
Mrs. Flannery blazed a trail for other members of her gender long before women were accepted in the fields of sports journalism or law. She also was a role model for family: Daughter Mary Flannery Connors is a former Inquirer business editor, and granddaughter Rosemary Connors is a reporter and weekend anchor at NBC10 Philadelphia.
In 1965, fresh out of Villanova, Mrs. Flannery began what would become a 25-year legal career with the firm of Wisler Pearlstine L.L.P.
"It was a long-held desire. Her father was a lawyer in Philadelphia," Flannery Connors said.
Mrs. Flannery became a partner in 1973, specializing in wills and estates. She was an officer with the Montgomery County Bar Association and the Estate Planning Council.
A Philadelphia native, Mrs. Flannery attended the Academy of the Sisters of Mercy. After her 1943 graduation from Chestnut Hill College, she worked as a copy girl and later as a high school sportswriter at The Inquirer.
"This was before TV and professional sports, so high school sports was a very big deal," said Flannery Connors. "That's how she met my father."
She continued writing until 1950, when she married John "Tex" Flannery, longtime football coach at La Salle College High School. The two had three children.
Mr. Flannery was thrilled that his wife had moved beyond the domestic sphere by going to law school and then into practice.
"He was so proud of her," said Flannery Connors. "He was the one who urged her to go. She in turn was happy to have him in the lead on that. They loved life and each other."
Mrs. Flannery spent many hours volunteering for the Legal Aid Society in Montgomery County, and served as president of the Mercy Academy, Chestnut Hill College and Villanova Law alumni associations.
While raising her family in Blue Bell, she spent 17 years as a Democratic committeewoman in Whitpain Township.
After retiring in 1990, Mrs. Flannery was a literacy tutor in North Philadelphia; supported the Iris Club, a women's charitable group; and attended her grandchildren's school activities.
Mrs. Flannery's husband died in 2007 at 85. Besides her daughter, she is survived by another daughter, Kate; 10 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. A son, Jack, died in 2004.
A life celebration will be held Tuesday, Jan. 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the John Stretch Funeral Home, 236 E. Eagle Rd., Havertown, weather permitting. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, at St. Colman Church, 11 Simpson Rd., Ardmore. Interment is in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Donations may be made to Gwynedd-Mercy Academy High School, Box 902, Gwynedd Valley, Pa. 19437, or to John "Tex" Flannery Fund, La Salle College High School, 8605 Cheltenham Ave., Wyndmoor, Pa. 19038.
610-313-8102