Nod to a true mentor, Tim Flanigan
In my span of six-plus decades I have been lucky to have been afforded a number of influencers who made my time on this earth more pleasurable, more profitable, a lot richer and maybe just a bit more productive. Blessed is probably the better word choice.
One such blessing was my friend, Tim Flanigan. Call him a mentor, spiritual guide, example, role model, whatever you choose, but earlier this summer, one such figure departed this world, leaving a gaping hole in the fabric of too many lives. Tim passed away on June 6 and is mourned by a vast number of souls. I didn’t realize how many folks he touched until I attended his memorial service at Shawnee State Park last week. Not only was it incredibly well attended, but I have never been witness to so many individuals who seemed to have been as or more affected by one man’s gifts.
To say that Tim wore a lot of hats would be an exercise in hyperbole. He was a husband, a hunter, a game warden, a soldier, a world-class photographer, a mechanic and a self-trained field biologist among his many other talents. He was also one of my favorite outdoors writers and did more to school me on the science and habits of ruffed grouse and woodcock than any human being I have had the good fortune to learn from. And all that knowledge came from experience … lots and lots of experience, which he was more than willing to share with anybody interested enough to pay attention. Tim seemed to excel at anything to which he put his hand.
Tim graduated from Jenners Boswell Joint High School in Boswell in 1963. From 1965 to 1967, he proudly served with the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry in Vietnam. Following his service to his country, Tim graduated from the General Motors Training School as a mechanic and served 22 years in the industry. In 1975, Tim entered the Ross Leffler School of Conservation, where he became a wildlife conservation officer (game warden) and retired from the Pennsylvania Game Commission in 2005 with 30 years of service. Along the way, Tim became a world-class wildlife photographer, outdoors writer, and lecturer where he served as a past president and life member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. Since 1987, when he started his company, Outdoor Exposures, he has become widely regarded as one of the top ruffed grouse and woodcock photographers on the planet. If you are browsing the pages of any top-quality upland bird magazine, chances are good that you are looking at a Tim Flanigan photo. Tim married the love of his life, Debbie in 1987, who survives.
So what can be said about a life so full? Well, I guess the words that come to mind are “Thank you.” Tim has left a lot of us better off than he found us. He shared of his time and his talents. Not only did he use print media to reach a much larger audience with his most powerful of words and expertise but he captured nature in his lens for all of us to enjoy and learn from. His leadership was evident as he led his fellow writers in his pursuits as president of his outdoors writers guild. The respect that he earned from his colleagues was most evident as Tim was eulogized by his counterparts. I have never witnessed so many individuals wait in line to say a few words about one of their own, each in their own special way.
Mostly, I can say this: Tim was a great friend. Maybe an unlikely friend? He was that welcoming agent who made everyone feel at home. I was the new guy in the POWA organization at 55 years of age. Tim was approaching 80. He made me feel like I always belonged, not just to the organization but as a part of the group. His stories were warm and immersed in friendship and fraternity. They always seemed to have some moral lesson component to them that one might pocket for use down the road if one paid close enough attention. Maybe everyone felt like they were his good friend? Tim had that way about him. That’s the great part about friendship, you can never have too much. Some of the guys in attendance had been hunting together since the mid-1970s. That’s a long time to cultivate a friendship but I felt that in the few years that I had come to know Tim, he made for a great change in my life and in my growth. Selfishly, I want him back. I can only hope that I might have given him some semblance of that friendship in return for all the gifts he distributed so freely to the rest of us.
I will miss our late-night talks, gathered around the writers table until the wee hours of the morning, with the law enforcement guys sharing stories of the good old days. I will miss his smile and wink, next morning, as we attempted to pull ourselves together for the early lecture session, knowing that we had stayed up far too late for a bunch of old guys. And I will miss his friendship, that I might be that “old guy” someday, for some kid down the road who needed it most.
This column is in memory of Timothy Charles Flanigan, April 10, 1945 – June 6, 2026.
Dave Bates writes a weekly outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter. He can be reached at alphaomegashootingsolutions@gmail.com