Tom Flanagan plastered the walls of his social media accounts with pictures of his wife, Angela, and children, 3-year-old Liam and 2-year-old Gianna.
He operated his photo booth rental company, Take Two Photo Booths, with hopes he’d be able to work increasingly from home, his cousin and business partner Joe Stefanelli said.
He had a business degree from Westfield State University, but he wanted to spend days with his kids, so he took a night job: pizza delivery.
“He was the ultimate definition of a man,” his sister Shannon Flanagan, 32, said. “He didn’t want his wife to ever have to worry … But he also didn’t let money control him. His first priority was his family.”
Flanagan, of Westfield, was delivering pizza Sunday night in South Hadley when an oncoming car crossed the center line at 124 College St. (Route 116), struck his car and killed him. He was 29.
Stefanelli, 28, started a GoFundMe page Monday to raise money for Flanagan’s family. By 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, 309 donors had given more than $18,000, with individual contributions from $10 to $1,000.
“I have a kid and I couldn’t imagine them losing me and me not having life insurance,” Stefanelli said. “He didn’t have life insurance. He always said he was going to get it when he was 30, and he was six months away from that.”
Stefanelli said he originally set a $5,000 goal for the GoFundMe page to help Angela cover Tom’s final expenses. Since seeing the community’s reaction, he has increased the goal to $30,000.
“It’s not for just right now,” he said. “These kids are so young. They’ve got school. They’ve got college later. She’s going to need a lot of help.”
Flanagan was a younger brother who acted like an older one, Shannon said, sometimes a pain in the ass, always protective. When Shannon’s husband left her, Flanagan backed her up.
“He said, ‘Cut him off. Be strong,’” she said. “He was my rock. He was my best friend growing up.”
Shannon said she believes Flanagan’s investment in family stems from his early childhood. Their parents divorced shortly after he was born, and Shannon said he didn’t have a father figure until he was 4, when their mother married their stepfather — the man they call “dad.”
“Tommy prided himself on being such a good father because he resented his father for not being there for him,” Shannon said.
He was one of eight children, and he lived within walking distance of Stefanelli as they grew up. The cousins were nearly inseparable, Stefanelli said.
They rode bikes, made goofy videos, went to amusement parks. They ate pizza and played video games in Stefanelli’s parents’ basement. They hung out the day after Flanagan met Angela, and he told his cousin he’d just met the girl of his dreams.
They drifted apart as they entered adulthood, Stefanelli said, but Flanagan sometimes worked for Stefanelli’s construction company, Home Facelifters. The work was hard for him — it took him away from his children during the day — but it led to the two talking about business.
Flanagan had started a photo booth rental company three years earlier under the name Flantastic Photo Booth. Earlier this year, Stefanelli joined as a co-owner, and after a name change, business boomed to three or four bookings each weekend.
“I have always been told not to work with family. But it was working. … We would text each other about the exact same thing at the same time, and we always had the same things in mind.”
Stefanelli said Flanagan hoped Take Two would grow to the point he could work fewer of the events and spend more time with his family. He’d just celebrated Gianna’s second birthday. He’d been teaching Liam to golf.
“He just absolutely loved being a father and husband,” Stefanelli said. “That’s what he was meant to do.”