Ellen Flaherty

Ellen Flaherty

Ellen McKee Flaherty died February 13, 2004 at Friendship Haven at the age of 93. Cause of death was longevity and, as she stated, a wish to move to the next plateau. She was the wife of Ray W. Flaherty of Moorland and Fort Dodge. (Mr. Flaherty died in 1994 at the age of 97.) Ellen was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey. She graduated from Miss Jenny Hunter's, a finishing school in New York City and then taught literature at Miss Gardner's, a private girl's school, also in New York.

She met Ray Flaherty, then a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, at the World's Fair in Chicago. They were married in 1935 in Princeton and after a honeymoon in New York City lived on the Flaherty farm in Moorland.

The couple later moved into Fort Dodge where Ellen was active in community affairs and Executive Director of the Webster County Girl Scouts. She was a member of The Ingleside Club and Story Tellers. In the 1950s she led a group of parents in a protest against the Fort Dodge Public Schools in an effort to keep Latin and Greek in the high school curriculum. The protest was successful. She was an early fundraiser for Friendship Haven, appearing on the local television and radio stations in support of the new facility. She was also on the Board of Directors of Blanden Memorial Art Museum.

Ellen is survived by her daughter and only child, Nancy Dunnan, a graduate of Fort Dodge High School and an author, columnist and publisher now living in New York City.

Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Blanden Memorial Art Museum, 920 Third Avenue South, Fort Dodge, Iowa. 50501. Those wishing to express their condolences may do so online.

Bruce-Graham Funeral Home