SHERBURNE – Susan Ann (Hall) Connelly enjoyed a life rich in friendships and service, guided by her unwavering faith and dedication to friends, family and community. She passed away on Sunday, April 15, 2012. She was born on Nov. 30, 1945 in Springfield, Mass. She was the only child of C.H. Hall and H.M. (Courtney) Hall, who predeceased her.
Raised in Needham and West Chatham, Mass., her youth was full of a love of nature and the ocean. Her education was begun upon her graduation from Needham High School and concluded upon receipt of a Master’s Degree from Harvard. It was at that point that she began her professional career as a counselor/social worker – a career she enjoyed most of her life. On Dec. 29, 1978, she married her soul mate, Thomas W. Connelly, who predeceased her in July of 1996. An active member of her church and community, she was a communicant of St. Malachy’s Church, where she was a member of the Parish Council, a eucharistic minister, lector, member of the Altar and Rosary Society, and a member of the Human Development Committee. Her religious involvement extended itself to representing her parish on the Sherburne Area Council of Churches. Community service included being a volunteer for Hospice, as well as a member of the Board of Directors; service to Rogers Environmental Center as a member and secretary to Friends of Rogers Board of Directors; a member, supporter and volunteer to the Earlville Opera House; and a supporter of Crop Walk; a genuine lover of Colorscape where she served on the Board as Vice President and Volunteer Coordinator. In 1997, when the area churches saw the need, she along with other ladies, established a local soup kitchen (community lunch) to serve the hungry of the area. The program has been in service on Saturday mornings since that time. Service to her community gave Susan great joy and she felt blessed by all the wonderful people she met, loved and learned from. During her life she raised Lhasa Apsos for 30 years, and there was never one far from her side. She had also been a stewardess for American Airlines in her earlier years.
Surviving are her cousins, Carol (Hall) Andras and her husband Bob of Mass., their son Ken and his wife Justine, and their daughters, Gianna, Nora and Jillian; Ann Haskell and her husband Don of Mass., and their children, Carol and Donna; Raymond and Kathy Lopes of Vermont; an aunt and uncle, Ruth and Ray Lopes of Mass.; and an uncle, Tony King of Mass. She is also survived by her husband’s brother and his family, and her three adopted children.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Saturday at St. Malachy’s Church, East State St., Sherburne, NY.
In keeping with Sue’s wishes, there will be no calling hours and her body was donated to science at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse.
Please consider donations in her memory to Hospice of Chenango County or to St. Malachy’s Church, Sherburne.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Burgess & Tedesco Funeral Home, 10 S. Main St., Sherburne.
To send a condolence or sign the Book of Memories online go to www.burgessandtedescofuneralhomes.com.