Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 22, 1994                   TAG: 9410240053
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: QUANTICO                                LENGTH: Medium

REUNITED COUPLE DIES AS THEY CROSS ROAD

Flanagan, 71, of San Jose, Calif., and Thompson, 69, of Owensboro, Ky., died Wednesday night - 50 years to the day after she turned down his marriage proposal.

The couple had just finished a pizza dinner when they were hit while trying to cross a seven-lane highway. Witnesses said they were carried more than 60 feet on the car's roof before the driver could stop. No charges were filed.

The pizza dinner marked the 50-year anniversary of Flanagan's marriage proposal to Thompson, said Lisa Rihn, Thompson's daughter. Thompson had turned him down, saying she was too young and he was going overseas the next day with his Coast Guard unit.

The two had dated for two years after meeting at a USO dance. Flanagan and Thompson had vowed to meet up after the war, but didn't speak again until they began exchanging letters earlier this year. She was widowed in 1987 and he was divorced.

They decided to meet in Pittsburgh on Oct. 13 to visit Civil War sites along the East Coast, and attend the 50-year reunion of Flanagan's Coast Guard class on Thursday.

Rihn said she spoke to her mother on the telephone Monday, and the reunited friends were enjoying their trip.

``To put it plainly, you couldn't understand a word she was saying because she was giggling so much,'' Rihn said Friday. ``I talked to Paul, too, and he said he lost his Dottie 50 years ago, and he wasn't going to let her go now.''

Rihn said her mother had shown her old photos of Flanagan when she was growing up. ``There was just a special bond she had with him,'' she said.