ASU remembers
Sarah (Sally) Jane Flanagan
June 26, 2006
Sarah (Sally) Jane Flanagan passed away on Monday morning, June 26, 2006, at the Hospice of the Valley at Friendship Village. She had battled a very rare form of cancer, Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC), for 7 years. Sarah worked for the City of Tempe and for several years in the Dance Department at Arizona State University. She leaves behind her husband, Jim, and two sons, Jim and Dusty. Jim and his wife Melinda live in Gilbert, Arizona and have three children - Tyler, Briana, and Sarah. Sarah was named after her grandmother. Dusty and his wife, Deborah, live in Ft. Lupton, Colorado and have a daughter, Haley. Several days ago, when Sarah was still with us, the nurse came into her room to give her morphine. The nurse asked Sarah where she wanted to receive the morphine, under her tongue, on either side of her mouth, or did it matter. Sarah looked at her and very, very slowly raised her hand which was shaky, and extended her index finger. She moved her hand ever so slowly towards her face and then stopped. She then moved her hand up towards the nurse and put her finger on the nurse's lips. When the nurse saw the humor she laughed out loud and leaned down and gave Sarah a kiss. Sarah's strength came from her love of family and it inspires all of us.