James E. ( Jed) Flaherty's Obituary
James Edward Flaherty, II (Jed) walked into the arms of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on November 3, 2016, following a year-long illness. Jed was born at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas on March 22, 1989, to Ann and Bill Flaherty. Jed was a loving son with a bright and creative soul. He was blessed with artistic and musical abilities that led him to deep friendships. Since receiving a devastating diagnosis of colon cancer that resulted in surgery exactly a year ago in California, Jed made the decision to return home to live his family in Dallas and to enter treatment at Baylor Sammons Cancer Center. While acknowledging the reality of his diagnosis he remained optimistic that he would rejoin the workforce and resume an active life. The past few months had resulted in several hospital stays for Jed and he had just made a difficult decision to receive hospice care. Several of his closest friends, who had remained in constant contact, had made plans to travel considerable distances to spend a long weekend with Jed at his home. Despite his pain and suffering, Jed remained concerned with others first and never lost his trademark of personally thanking the Doctors, nurses and other care-givers who gave their very best in a remarkably unselfish manner. His usual greeting during the past year almost always began with “How are you doing”, and ended with “Thank you”, communicating his genuine concern for others, in particular his mother, Ann, who was his primary care-giver. Jed attended Covenant Christian Academy in Colleyville, TX until his family relocated to California in 2004. Jed graduated high school at Maranatha in Pasadena, CA and in 2011 he received his Bachelors degree in Political Science from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, He worked at the campus radio station, KCRP radio, where he met several close friends while utilizing his God given talents of voice, music and curiosity. He loved the outdoors and had fond memories of family vacations, particularly to Oregon and Colorado, which continued after he graduated from college. Jed never missed an opportunity to hike and camp and was frequently seen riding his fixed gear bicycle around SLO. He made his last trip to Big Sur and down the California coast during the July 4,, 2016 holiday week. He is survived by his parents, Ann and Bill Flaherty of Dallas, as well as his sister Quinlan Wood, her husband Jeff Wood and Jed’s niece and nephew Willa and Wilder Wood of Bedford, Texas; sister Katelyn Flaherty of Paris, France; grandparents, Quincy & Suzy Adams of Dallas; as well as numerous uncles, aunts and cousins in north Texas, Illinois and Iowa. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, November 10th at 2:00 pm at Countryside Bible Church, 250 Countryside Court in Southlake, Texas with a reception following. The family will hold a private graveside service at 11:00 am that morning at Restland. We are most thankful for and grateful to, his numerous care-givers, in particular, those at Texas Oncology and Baylor Cancer Hospital who lovingly and thoughtfully cared for Jed. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made in Jed’s honor to Countryside Bible Church to assist their benevolence fund and youth programs.
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