Obituary of Harriette Ann Flanigan Lanner

Harriette Flanigan Lanner, 92, passed away November 22, 2021. In the 1930s a determined girl not yet nine years of age inspired her fellow students by trekking up "the Hill" to Syracuse University's College of Music, where she studied the harp. That was the auspicious beginning of Harriette Flanigan's devotion to the concert harp and the beautiful sounds it would produce for many years into the future. Harriette's life during the Great Depression in Central New York was insecure, after her father Harry Flanigan passed away in her infancy, and her mother, Ruth France Flanigan, struggled to educate her daughters. But talent and grit won out. As a grown-up college student, Harriette excelled not only as a gifted harpist but as a percussionist, string player and chorale director as well. Her students will remember her as an endlessly patient mentor of the art of rhythm. She was herself a student of Maestro Carlos Salzedo, a leading musician and harp innovator of the twentieth century. Her final years were lived in Placerville, California among the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains, the tall pines, and the spaniels that adored her. Harriette was preceded in death by her sister, Georgette and niece, Cindy. Her husband, Ronald, followed her in death soon after her passing. Harriette is survived by daughter, Devorah, son, David, daughter-in-law Aline; and extended family.