February 15, 1924 – March 23, 2017
(Arthur) Richard Flahaven was born on February 15, 1924 in Streater, IL, to Arthur Richard Flahaven (Sr) and Anna Mary (Harrington) Flahaven. The youngest of three, he was the baby brother to his sisters Anna Mae Flahaven, and Dorothy C. Flahaven (Chalk). Life on the farm in rural Illinois, was great for a young boy, but with the onset of the Depression, the family moved to Chicago, IL.
On March 26th,1943, Richard was inducted into the Army, and by April 11th, 1943 he began his basic training at Camp Roberts in Central California. By March of 1944, Richard was on his way to the European Theater of England, France and Belgium, arriving on the Queen Mary, with 15,000 other soldiers.
On February 26th, 1946, Richard was discharged from the Army and came home to Chicago. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, and started work at the First National Bank of Chicago in June, 1951.
During that time at the bank, he met Nancy Ellen Hansen and they were married on April 18th, 1953. In 1955, their first child James Richard was born. In 1957, Richard, Nancy and “Jimmy” moved to South Bend, IN where Richard worked his way up to the position of Investment Officer; in the Trust Department at First Bank & Trust Company (later to become 1st Source Bank). In those years, Richard and Nancy had three more children; Richard John (1958), Nancy Ann (1960), and Janet Ellen (1962).
After 33 years of dedicated service, Richard retired from 1st Source on 6/30/89, and operated his own Investment Counseling Service under the name of Flahaven Associates from October 1989 until October 1992.
Over the years, Richard served on the Boards of several organizations, including the (then named) Council for the Retarded of St. Joseph County (presently known as Logan Center), the Finance Council of St, Mary’s Catholic Church (Niles, MI), and the Knights of Columbus #708 (Niles, MI) where he became a 4th Degree Knight and held to the position of Grand Knight from 2006-2007.
Richard was a beloved son, brother, husband and father. He is survived by his wife of 63 years; Nancy Ellen (Hansen) Flahaven, sons; James Richard Flahaven (Toni Milanos), Richard John Flahaven (Debra Casteel Flahaven), Nancy Ann Flahaven (Glenn Alfred) and Janet Ellen Flahaven-Law (Scott Law)
Visitation will be held at Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home, (Niles, MI) on Monday, March 27th from 4-7 pm, and Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 10:00 am on Tuesday, March 28th.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Mary’s Catholic School (Niles, MI) or the Humane Society of Southwestern MI.