Connellan Family History & Genealogy

Frances Irene (Connellan) McGraw of Portland, Cumberland County, Maine United States was born on September 13, 1886 in Portland to Honora (Hehir) Connellan and Michael Charles Connellan. She had siblings Anne Theresa Connellan, Mary E. (Connellan) Gulliver, Margaret Gertrude Connellan, Agnes Bernadette Connellan, Katherine E Connellan, Eleanor Loretto Connellan, James J Connellan, and Annie Connellan. She married Bernard James McGraw, and they were married until Bernard's death. She had children Dorothy Mary (McGraw) Haase and Richard Bernard McGraw. Frances McGraw died at age 84 years old on June 16, 1971 in South Portland, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery 1461 Broadway, in South Portland.

Elva H (Toward) Connellan was born in 1897, and died at age 27 years old in 1924. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Elva H (Toward) Connellan.

James J Connellan of Portland, Cumberland County, Maine United States was born on November 22, 1891 in Portland to Honora (Hehir) Connellan and Michael Charles Connellan. James Connellan had siblings Anne Theresa Connellan, Mary E. (Connellan) Gulliver, Margaret Gertrude Connellan, Agnes Bernadette Connellan, Katherine E Connellan, Eleanor Loretto Connellan, Frances Irene (Connellan) McGraw, and Annie Connellan. He married Elva H (Toward) Connellan on January 9, 1924, and they were married until Elva's death in 1924. He married Ida E (Carey) Connellan, and they were married until Ida's death on December 21, 1936. They had children Leo Richard Connellan and James Mcdevitt "Jimmy" Connellan. James Connellan died at age 71 years old on April 25, 1963 in Portland.

John Joseph Connellan of Toorak, City of Stonnington County, VIC Australia was born on January 7, 1921 in Donald, Buloke Shire County, and died at age 53 years old on May 27, 1974 in Toorak, City of Stonnington County.

Kathleen Mary (Connellan) O'Halloran of Balranald, Balranald Shire Council County, NSW Australia was born on July 27, 1917 in Donald, Buloke Shire County, VIC, and died at age 86 years old on June 6, 2004 in Balranald, Balranald Shire Council County, NSW.

Leo Paul Connellan of Balranald, Balranald Shire Council County, NSW Australia was born on June 28, 1913 in Donald, Buloke Shire County, VIC to Lucy Glowrey Connellan and Thomas Peter Connellan. He had siblings Edward John Connellan, Vincent Thomas Connellan, Kathleen Mary Connellan, and John Joseph Connellan. Leo Connellan married Sybil Monica Buzza in 1940, and died at age 85 years old in 1998 in Balranald, Balranald Shire Council County, NSW.

Edward John Connellan of Mount Zeil, MacDonnell Region County, NT Australia was born on June 24, 1912 in Donald, Buloke Shire County, VIC to Lucy Glowrey Connellan and Thomas Peter Connellan. He had siblings Leo Paul Connellan, Vincent Thomas Connellan, Kathleen Mary Connellan, and John Joseph Connellan. Edward Connellan died at age 71 years old on December 26, 1983 in Mount Zeil, MacDonnell Region County, NT.

Thomas Peter Connellan of Balranald, Balranald Shire Council County, NSW Australia was born in 1882 in Laen, Buloke Shire County, VIC. He was married to Lucy Glowrey Connellan in 1911, and had children Edward John Connellan, Leo Paul Connellan, Vincent Thomas Connellan, Kathleen Mary Connellan, and John Joseph Connellan. Thomas Connellan died at age 65 years old on April 28, 1948 in Balranald, Balranald Shire Council County, NSW.

Died at 8 months old.

Catherine (Carroll) Connellan of Donald, Buloke Shire County, VIC Australia was born in 1841 in Donald. She was married to Thomas Connellan, and had children John Connellan, Mary Connellan, Ellen Connellan, Honor Connellan, Thomas Connellan, Patrick Connellan, Edward Connellan, Michael Connellan, and Catherine Connellan. Catherine Connellan died at age 71 years old on October 1, 1913 in Donald.

Thomas Connellan of Donald, Buloke Shire County, VIC Australia was born in 1836 in Kilmaley, CE Ireland. He was married to Catherine Carroll Connellan, and had children John Connellan, Mary Connellan, Ellen Connellan, Honor Connellan, Thomas Connellan, Patrick Connellan, Edward Connellan, Michael Connellan, and Catherine Connellan. Thomas Connellan died at age 80 years old in 1917 in Donald, VIC Australia.

Lucy (Glowrey) Connellan of Swan Hill, Swan Hill Rural City County, VIC Australia was born in 1885 in Birregurra, and died at age 87 years old on August 15, 1973 in Swan Hill.

Peter Connellan Obituary Peter James Connellan December 29, 1967-June 12, 2023 Connellan, Peter J. Born on a snowy December day in Waterville, Maine, Peter lived each day of his life with bluster, love, and passion. He was a "collector of people" who never met a person he didn't want to befriend and gathered a multitude of dear friends at every stage of his vibrant, heartfelt, and accomplished life. Peter passed away unexpectedly on June 12, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas, where he lived with his family: wife Kerri, adored son Patrick, and beloved daughter Maura. Peter was born the fourth child and second son to James M. Connellan and Joan C. Connellan. He was a lively, active, and mischievous boy, full of adventure and always ready for the next game. Peter was educated in the Waterville school system, where he formed so many lifelong friendships. Stories of Peter's mischief are legendary, such as the basketball game when he ordered pizza delivered to the bench as a protest over his perceived lack of playing time, or the day he raided his neighbor's garden and made a delicious French onion soup that he then shared with the unsuspecting neighbor. A gifted high school athlete, Peter played football, basketball, and baseball. Peter matriculated at St. Lawrence University, in Canton, New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics. While at St. Lawrence, Peter continued to play baseball on the college team and joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Peter spent his junior year studying at the University College Cork, in Cork, Ireland, on the Colby-in-Cork program. While at UCC, Peter played on the championship college basketball team, a success of which he was very proud. After graduating, Peter launched a distinguished career in finance, entering the prestigious J.P. Morgan Chase training program in New York City and earning his Master of Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University while working full-time. After several years as a Vice President with J.P. Morgan/Chase, Peter began a 19 year career in Institutional Equity Sales, first as a Vice President at Credit Suisse and then as a Managing Director at Sandler O'Neil + Partners. Peter transitioned to Portfolio Management and Investment Advisor as a Senior Vice President at PNC (formerly BBVA/Compass). Peter was beloved by his clients and colleagues. Peter led by example throughout his life with his philanthropy, believing to his core that much is expected of those to whom life has gifted much. One of the highlights of his philanthropic life was meeting actor and fellow Mainer Patrick Dempsey when Peter delivered a family gift to the non-profit Dempsey Center. To the end, Peter was loyal, steadfast, funny, thoughtful, challenging, and loving to all who were blessed to know him. Peter was predeceased by his brother Thomas, his father James, and his mother Joan. He is survived by his wife Kerri and children Patrick and Maura; his sister-in-law Josephine and nephews James and Dylan; his sister Annie Edwards, brother-in-law Jeffrey, niece Elizabeth and nephews Nicholas (Kate) and Matthew; and his sister Beth Smith, brother-in-law Gregory and nephews Myles (Danielle), Evan (Tina), Aiden and Jameson. Peter is also survived by his father-in-law Ronnie Keisler, and his mother-in-law, Doris Keisler; his brother-in-law Rhett Keisler, his sister-in-law Jennifer, and nieces Eva and Lily; his brother-in-law, Ryan, his sister-in-law, Delaney, and nieces Fiona and Eleanor, cousins, and by so very many others who loved him like family. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10:30AM on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at Holy Martyrs in Falmouth, Maine, followed by a gathering to celebrate Peter's life. A private family committal will be held in Mt. Hope Cemetery, in Lewiston. The mass can be watched at . This address needs to be pasted into a browser. At a later date, a Celebration of Life will be held in Fort Worth, TX. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations in Peter's honor to one of the following charities: The Warm Place (www.thewarmplace.org); The Doe Fund (www.doe.org); American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (www.afsp.org).

Elizabeth C (Connellan) Smith was born on November 10, 1964 in Waterville, Maine United States to James Mcdevitt "Jimmy" Connellan and Joan Elizabeth (Carberry) Connellan, and has siblings Thomas Michael "Slo" Connellan, Annie T. (Connellan), and Peter James Connellan. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Elizabeth C (Connellan).

Annie T. (Connellan) Edwards was born in 1961 to James Mcdevitt "Jimmy" Connellan and Joan Elizabeth (Carberry) Connellan, and has siblings Thomas Michael "Slo" Connellan, Elizabeth C (Connellan), and Peter James Connellan. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Annie T. (Connellan).

Josephine Mari Anne (Zitaglio) Connellan was born in 1957. Josephine Zitaglio was married to Thomas Michael "Slo" Connellan, and they were together until Thomas' death on November 23, 2016. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Josephine Mari Anne (Zitaglio).

Thomas Connellan Obituary Thomas M. Connellan 1960 - 2016 HILLSDALE, New Jersey - Born April 7, 1960, in Houlton, to James and Joan Connellan, Tom passed away unexpectedly Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016. Tom was a sensitive and loving man, loyal to his many friends and beloved by all who knew him. He had many passions, not least of which were his wife, Josephine (neé Zitaglio); his two sons, James "Mac" McDavitt and Dylan Michael Connellan; as well as his parents and his siblings, Annie Edwards, Elizabeth Smith and Peter Connellan. Tom, known as "Slo" to his many friends, was graduated from Waterville High School and matriculated at the University of Maine at Orono, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history. At UMO, Tom's accepting and relaxed nature drew many lifelong friends to him. In fact, Tom never made a friend who wasn't a lifelong friend, and he worked hard to maintain those relationships. A year spent studying in Canterbury, England, opened Tom to life's greater pleasures, nurturing a love of all things British and especially a love of fine wine and gourmet food. Tom was especially proud of his Irish heritage, happily blending his ancestry with that of his wife's large and loving Italian family. He loved all of the New England sports teams, and was lucky enough to see Big Papi play at Fenway in his last home game earlier this year, sharing the experience with his father and other family members. Tom also was passionate about his career, rising to the position of vice-president of claims with Aon Risk Services. He was recognized as an expert in risk management, and was sought after for his imaginative and thorough solutions to risk management problems. Tom was a parishioner at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, in Hillsdale, New Jersey, and a member of Elks Lodge #1562 of Westwood, through which he fulfilled his passion for service to others. Tom is survived by his parents, James and Joan Connellan, of Brunswick; his sister, Annie Edwards (Jeffrey), and children, Elizabeth, Nicholas and Matthew; his sister, Elizabeth (Gregory), and children, Aiden and Jameson; as well as stepchildren Myles (Danielle, daughter Aurora), and Evan (Tina); his brother, Peter (Kerri), and children, Patrick and Maura; his mother-in-law, Virginia; brothers-in-law, Frank and Michael Zitaglio; and sister-in-law, Frannie, and their families. A Mass of Christian Burial was held Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, in Hillsdale, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation www.jdrf.org Published by Central Maine on Dec. 1, 2016.

OBITUARIES Posted September 28, 2021 Obituary: Joan E. Connellan BRUNSWICK – Born on Jan. 31, 1930, to Peter J. Carberry and Helen T. (Shaw) Carberry in Portland, Joan passed away peacefully with her children by her side on Sept. 22, 2021, after a period of failing health. Joan lived her early life on Stevens Avenue, the street in Portland where, as she liked to say, she could attend schools from kindergarten through college. In grade school, Joan moved to Auburn with her family and was graduated, fifth in her class, from Edward Little High School in 1948. Joan then attended and was graduated from Bates College in 1952 with a major in Sociology, subsequently matriculating at Boston University, seeking a master’s degree in Social Work. A college friend, Nancy Sulides, set Joan up on a fateful blind date with a young Bowdoin College graduate, Jim Connellan, and on July 18, 1959, Jim married Joan and they embarked on a nearly 60-year partnership. Jim’s first work assignment brought him and Joan to Houlton, Maine, where Joan decided to dedicate herself to her family with the arrival of her first child, Thomas, born in April of 1960. Daughter Anne followed in September of 1961. Following Annie’s birth, Jim and Joan moved to Waterville, where they welcomed daughter Elizabeth in November of 1964 and son Peter, who completed the family in December of 1967. As her children entered school, Joan volunteered in the library at Brookside Elementary School and served on the Parent-Teacher Association in various roles, including Chair. She was famously frugal, and that talent enabled Joan to provide various lessons and camps for her children as they grew, including piano lessons, horseback riding, tennis, overnight camps, sports camps, and lots of fun family trips to locations up and down the East Coast exploring historical sites and other interesting places. Once her youngest two children reached junior high school, Joan returned to her profession, working as a Child Protective Worker for the Department of Health and Human Services, in Augusta. When Jim took a promotion relocating his office to Portland, Joan supported him and moved with Jim to Brunswick where they resided for the rest of their lives. Joan maintained wonderful friendships with her Waterville friends, but also nourished friendships with Brunswick friends. When Joan retired, she began to volunteer at the local soup kitchen and was an active member of the local garden club, where she made many new friends. Joan was active in her grandchildrens lives, attending sporting events, school recitals and welcoming the grandchildren during holidays and summer vacations to her home in Brunswick. Joan loved to sew, knit, and cook and she absolutely loved a good squash soup. Joan was predeceased by her parents, Peter and Helen; her sister Helen, her beloved husband James; and eldest son, Thomas. She is survived by daughter-in-law Josephine Connellan and grandchildren James M. and Dylan Connellan of Hillsdale, N.J.; daughter Annie and husband Jeff Edwards of Lake Placid, N.Y., and grandchildren, Elizabeth, Nicholas and Matthew; his daughter Elizabeth and husband Gregory Smith of Cumberland, and grandchildren Myles, wife Danielle and children Aurora and Aeneas, Evan, wife Tina and son Teddy, Aiden and Jameson; and son Peter J., wife Kerri Connellan and grandchildren Patrick and Maura of Fort Worth, Texas. Visiting hours will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Stetson’s Funeral Home, 12 Federal Street, Brunswick, Maine. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9 a.m. at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 132 McKeen Street, Brunswick, Maine. Interment will take place at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Lewiston. Arrangements are under the care of Stetson’s Funeral Home and Cremation Care where condolences and fond memories may be shared at If you wish to do so, donations to: The Dempsey Center in Lewiston, Maine or: The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Northern New Jersey/ Rockland City Chapter in Joan’s name would be a wonderful honor of her legacy

James M. Connellan Obituary It is always difficult saying goodbye to someone we love and cherish. Family and friends must say goodbye to their beloved James M. Connellan (Brunswick, Maine), born in Augusta, Maine, who passed away at the age of 89, on February 14, 2019. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of James M. Connellan to show support. He was predeceased by : his parents, Ida and James; his sibling Leo; and his son Thomas M. Connellan of Hillsdale, N. J. H. He is survived by : his wife Joan E. Connellan of Brunswick; his daughter-in-law Josephine Connellan; his grandchildren, James M., Dylan Connellan of Hillsdale, N. J., Elizabeth, Nicholas and Matthew; his daughter Elizabeth (Gregory Smith) of Cumberland; his grandchild Myles (Danielle); his children, Aurora, Aeneas, Evan (Tina) and Peter J. (Kerri Connellan); and his grandchildren, Patrick and Maura of Fort Worth.

Leo Connellan grew up in Rockland, Maine, attended the University of Maine and served in the U.S. Army.Mainly in the 1950s, when he was between the ages of 19 and 32, Connellan travelled the contiguous 48 states, going back and forth between New York City and California.At age 32, he married his wife Nancy, and took work as a salesman after his daughter Amy was born, moving his family to Connecticut in 1969 to take over a new sales territory in New England.He lived at the time of his death in Sprague, Connecticut.He was the uncle of Wall Street businessman Peter Connellan. During the 1950s, Leo Connellan lived in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, which puts him in the Beat Generation of poets. Connellan's rough, "everyman" lyricism won him the admiration of such poet-critics as Karl Shapiro, Richard Eberhart,Richard Wilbur,and David B. Axelrod. Connellan won the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America and served as Connecticut's second Poet Laureate from 1996 until his death. His duties in this post were little defined, but Connellan said he saw promoting poetry in schools and supporting new writers as among his most important responsibilities. From 1987 until the time of his death, he was poet-in-residence for the Connecticut State University System. He was designated one of Maine's most prominent poets in the Maine Literary Hall of Fame. Connellan took among his themes the fishing and lobstering industries in Maine, and the lives of New York commuters. His work featured in anthologies, including Wesley McNair's The Maine Poets: An Anthology of Verse, and the Curbstone Press's Poetry like bread anthology of "poets of the political imagination." ----------------------- A WORKING MAN WHO WROTE POETRY TARA WEISS; Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT LEO CONNELLAN 1928-2001 Poet Leo Connellan was the emotionally abused son of a stoic Maine lawyer and the grandson of an Irish immigrant who fled the famine. When Connellan's mother died, his father called up from the bottom of the stairs to his 7-year-old son and said, "Your mother has gone to take care of someone else who needs her more than we do." Each year Connellan and his brother were taken to her grave site on her birthday, and his father assumed they'd eventually figure out she had died. He never truly recovered from that difficult childhood, and that, say friends and family, is what profoundly shaped Connellan's straightforward poetry, renowned for its rich depictions of his own experiences and the lives of the working class. It is also what kept him driving around the state working with young people, even at the age of 72, visiting high schools, middle schools and universities to lead workshops on writing. Connellan, Connecticut's state poet laureate since 1996, died Thursday night at William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, one week after suffering a massive stroke in his Sprague home. He was 72. Connellan, who was raised in blue-collar Rockland, Maine, prided himself on his working-class status and the fact that he was not part of the art world's social and financial elite. "No, I'm not an academic," he told The Courant's Northeast magazine in July 1998. "I'm not in the club. I'm a working man who writes poems." He studied for three years at the University of Maine but left to serve for 18 months in the Army. Connellan was fond of saying that he received his real education while traveling across the country in the 1950s. He received a doctorate of humane letters from the University of Maine in May 1998. Still, he craved the attention that was bestowed on him as a three-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet and winner in 1983 of the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. That award, voted by his peers for a body of work, puts him in the same category as Robert Penn Warren and e.e. cummings. "The fact that Leo won it was important, because he didn't win a lot of other awards; a lot of award-giving in the poetry world depends on who you know," said fellow poet Marilyn Nelson, a professor of English at the University of Connecticut. A friend, state Rep. Jack Malone, D-Norwich, recounted with a laugh Connellan's frequent phone calls that were meant to keep the politician updated on his awards and appearances. Recently, Connellan had called to tell Malone that he was listed as one of the 100 most important writers from Maine. "I just enjoyed Leo's flavor," Malone said. "He could not tolerate any pretension. I introduced him before the legislature once, and that's the only day I saw him in a tie." That need to "publicize himself" as his daughter, Amy Connellan, calls it, came from his own father's obvious disapproval of his son. The elder Connellan was known for telling friends that his son was "not a homosexual; poetry is just a hobby." So Connellan did everything he could to encourage young writers. He frenetically traveled around the state trying to meet as many students as possible. "He was going to help children understand and create and use words as their way of creating, and he wanted to teach them self-esteem," Amy Connellan said Thursday. "He was determined that he was going to do what he could to have children have confidence and believe in themselves. He believed that poetry and art are for everyone, not just for the elite and the privileged -- for the kid in the barrio as much as the kid raised in a comfortable suburban home." He used his position as poet-in-residence for the Connecticut State University system, which he had held since 1987, to teach writing workshops at middle and high schools and universities and community colleges throughout the state. Connellan averaged two to three schools per week, says William J. Cibes Jr., chancellor of the system. "We have files and files of thank-you letters from students and parents who had worked with Leo," Cibes said. "If there was one theme to those letters it was that suddenly the students were able to understand poetry and used it to express their feelings." Connellan told The New York Times in June 1996 that he rose each morning at 3 a.m. to write from 4 to 6 a.m. before heading to work. The family, his wife Nancy and daughter, lived in a house in Clinton while Connellan was a salesman for 17 years for Old Town Corp., which sold typewriter ribbons and carbon paper. But the company went out of business, and the family moved in 1979 to a modest apartment in Norwich, where they lived until 1991. That's when they moved into a townhouse in Sprague. Connellan worked as a substitute teacher and swept apartment complexes. Connellan's wake is from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Labenski Funeral Home, 107 Boswell Ave. in Norwich, and the funeral is at 9 a.m. Monday at St. Patrick Cathedral, 213 Broadway, Norwich. A reception will follow the service at the Norwich Arts Council, 62 Broadway. "He was a very crotchety man, but when I sent news of his death people agreed he was a difficult man but they loved him," Nelson said. "A lot of people felt that way. A lot of people respected him. He was a poet; he was dedicated." Scott Huff Think tonight of sixteen year old Scott Huff of Maine driving home fell asleep at the wheel, his car sprang awake from the weight of his foot head on into a tree. God, if you need him take him asking me to believe in you because there are yellow buttercups, salmon for my heart in the rivers, fresh springs of ice cold water running away.