Alisa Fay Flavin

Alisa Fay (Cockrell) Flavin was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 9, 1961, the daughter of Collins Devon and Willie Pearl Cockrell.  She shared a  birthday with her mother.  She passed away on March 4, 2023, at her rural Esbon, Kansas home.  Alisa was under hospice care and was surrounded by her family at the time of her passing.  To borrow a phrase from her best friend Laura, Alisa was the ‘North Star’ to those that knew and loved her.  She helped orient her siblings, nieces and nephews, family, friends and husband with her generosity and her kindness.  She would do anything for those that she loved.  She was always looking for something she could do to help others.  

Alisa talked a lot about what she referred to as “the stuff life is made of”.  For Alisa this included music of all kinds, ballroom dancing (especially the rumba and the waltz), listening to NPR, watching PBS and Turner Classic Movies and reading.  Always reading.  Maybe THE ATLANTIC magazine, or THE NEW YORKER, or OXFORD AMERICAN magazine, or SOUTHERN LIVING magazine.  Or a good book on a cold day. Alisa’s ability to decorate a room, a table or a space of any kind was a mark of her genius and evidence of the beautiful person that she was.  She loved to set a lovely table and prepare a feast for her family.  She was at the top of the world on holidays and during family gatherings.  

Alisa attended Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas and graduated in 1979.  She worked as a Trust Officer for Worthen and later Union Bank in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1983 until 1997.  She married William Dennis Flavin on July 19, 1997, moved to Kansas and spent the next twenty-five years as a military spouse and housewife living on a small farm in north-central Kansas.  Her garden flowers were the highlight of her summers.  She decorated her yard, porches and garden sheds with sparkling lights both winter and summer “to brighten up the place”.    Her ongoing support and generous spirit will be missed by husband Dennis and his children and grandchildren, her  brother Collins Devon Cockrell and his wife Barbara and family—her sister Tina and family and by her many nieces, nephews and friends.   Her “North Star” rock-solid friendship with her friend Laura Cummings was an inspiration and example of true fidelity.  Alisa was preceded in death by parents Collins Devon and Willie Pearl Cockrell.  The world is a sadder place now that Alisa is not in it.  

The Bustle in a House
The morning after Death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth.

The sweeping up the Heart
and putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.

Emily Dickinson

Williams Funeral Home
241 West 4th Avenue
Red Cloud, Nebraska  68970

Phone 402-746-2500
williamsfuneralhomes@yahoo.com

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