A staple of the Wisconsin journalism community, a friend, and a brother has sadly passed.
Sean O’Flaherty has been a journalist for more than 50 years. He graduated from UW-Madison with a journalism degree in 1971. Then he joined the employer he would stay with for the rest of his career, at Scripps News Milwaukee. He spent 53 years working there.
On July 26, 2024, Sean died after a courageous battle with multiple myeloma cancer. He was 74.
Sean was born on Sept. 1, 1949, in Orange, New Jersey, and he grew up in Newark.
Since childhood, he was determined to be a journalist. It all started when he received an audio recorder early on. He began conducting interviews with anyone he could find who would join him. Eventually, Sean got his hands on a camera.
“He got a camera before our parents got a camera. He took a trillion, billion pictures of me,” his brother Dan O’Flaherty said.
Sean would tinker on television sets by taking them apart to see what was inside. Later in high school, he filmed games for the football and baseball teams which was an innovation at the prep sports level for that time.
“He recorded everything. He did interviews. He did this sort of thing. Everything was recorded,” Dan O’Flaherty said.
He started studying journalism at UW-Madison in 1967 and graduated in 1971. During that time, he would file Madison-related reports for his station TMJ4 News — also now known as Scripps News Milwaukee. Upon graduation, he began his full-time job at the station and never got another job.
“Who needs Google when you have Sean O'Flaherty?” Madison Goldbeck, a former employee, and Sean’s friend, said.
“(He) was just a guy that was so excited about journalism and television,” Andrew Triplett, a former photographer, and Sean’s friend, said.
Sean began as an on-camera reporter but transitioned into a behind-the-scenes role. He mastered nearly every technical operation at the station.
“He can probably do every job in the station from turn on the transmitter to report breaking news,” former station anchor Mike Jacobs, said.
For his work, Sean received dozens of thank you letters from Milwaukee Public Schools to CNN to the IRS. ESPN even wrote a letter saying they owe him one.
“In the pandemic, I don’t know how we could have done as much as we did without him,” reporter Charles Benson said.
While Sean was a great coworker, he was an even better brother and friend.
"We just grew on each other. I don't know how we became such close friends, but we did. I'm happy we did,” Goldbeck said.
“I call him Father O’Flaherty mainly because he’s like the caretaker,” former TMJ4 anchor Carole Meekins, said.
“Sean did a lot for a lot of people. He helped a lot of people in a lot of different ways,” Triplett said.
To honor Sean and his years of service, the City of Milwaukee declared it Sean O’Flaherty Day on June 4, 2021. That marked his 50th work anniversary. Also, at the heart of the Scripps News Milwaukee newsroom is the ‘Sean O’Flaherty Real-Time Desk’.
“Sitting next to Sean every single night was sitting in the VIP circle. It was a very big honor to get to sit next to Sean at his desk,” Goldbeck said.
If you knew Sean, you knew his second love, after journalism, was Cheez-Its and Mountain Dew. He would bring in a new box of Cheez-Its every few days and put it in a communal drawer for everyone to eat.
“You’re just working your tail off. Sean’s still there with a handful of Cheez-Its just to help you get through the hunger crunch as well,” Benson said.
Later in life, Sean even became a pretty big Swiftie and went to the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie with friends from TMJ4.
“Sean’s favorite Taylor Swift song is 22 which is so fitting because he had such a young spirit,” Goldbeck said.
We loved Sean for his dry sense of humor, the communal Cheez-It boxes, and how he selflessly picked up trash outside the station every night.
“We need more Sean's. We really do,” Triplett said.
His impact on TMJ4 was immeasurable and how he made us feel will last forever.
“What impresses me the most at this point is that he has so many friends that are willing to do so much for him,” his brother Dan said.
“Thank you, and I appreciate you,” Triplett said.
“He did have a very big heart,” Goldbeck said.
Even though Sean isn’t with us anymore, we all carry a little bit of him with us every day.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Milwaukee.
