Former Prescott Valley Town Councilmember and Vice Mayor Mike Flannery died on Saturday, October 22 after a battle with cancer.  

A three-term councilman, Flannery was appointed to the Council in 1998 before being elected a year later. He was chosen vice mayor in 2004, the first time in the Town’s history a vice mayor was chosen by a unanimous Council vote. He served for 12 years on the Council, retiring in 2011.

Flannery, a native of Sydney, NY, was a U.S. Army veteran who was discharged after being wounded in Vietnam. He was the recipient of four Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, among other awards, for his wartime valor. He attended Sam Houston University and Ohio University, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. 

After moving to Prescott with his wife Allison, the couple owned and operated an advertising agency. They bought their first home in Prescott Valley in the mid-1980s, and the Flannerys promptly joined the community’s garden club. That’s when then Public Works Director Larry Tarkowski gave a speech at the club, urging residents to get involved in the new general plan. Flannery took him up on the offer and became chair of the subcommittee for the 1994 General Plan. 

Flannery was the founding president of the Prescott Valley Economic Development Foundation, an active participant in the Arizona Department of Commerce, and APS Focus Future One. He served for six years on the Prescott Valley Parks and Recreation Commission, three as its chair. He was a regular attendee at Council meetings before being appointed. 

Flannery also chaired the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization (CYMPO), was vice chair of the Northern Arizona Municipal Water Users Association (NAMWUA), and a Rural Transportation Advisory Council board member. He was involved in Arizona’s first redistricting process as legislative and congressional district seats faced redrawing of boundaries. He served on the original committee that formed the Boys and Girls Club of Central Yavapai and wrote the bylaws for New Horizons Independent Living Center.

The Prescott Valley Chamber awarded Flannery its Heritage Award in 2011. He was continuously and deeply active in veteran’s issues. 

“When a person thinks of Mike,” said former Prescott Valley Town Manager Larry Tarkowski, “They think of someone who has given himself to public service, starting with his service in Vietnam, and then his service to fellow veterans who had been injured in Vietnam. Then upon relocation to Prescott Valley, his service to the Town. Mike gave of himself and his enormous amount of energy in making Prescott Valley a better place. I miss him as a human being and civil servant, and as a very dear friend.”

Funeral services will be at the Prescott Valley Public Library/Council Chamber (7401 E Skoog Blvd, Prescott Valley, AZ 86314) on November 9, 2022, at 10-11:30AM. He will be interred with full military honors at the Heritage Memorial Park in Dewey, Arizona at 1:00PM the same day. Heritage Memorial Park is located at 12000 E Heritage Memorial Lane, Dewey, AZ 86327.