Flanngian was born on June 9, 1909, in Princeton, Indiana. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Signal Corps. He worked as a teletype operator, telegram office manager, and then a tool grinder. Flannigan was involved with the United Steelworkers labor union. On February 17, 1965, Flannigan died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a result of a fall on some ice at home.'Wisconsin Blue Book 1966, Biographical Sketch of Albert J. Flannigan, pg. 51'Flannigan Dies of Head Injury,' Manitowoc Herald Times, February 17, 1965, pg. 1
