Biography and Life of Frank Connolly

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Biography and Life of Frank Connolly

Francis "Frank" Marion Connolly, Master Sergeant, USAF Retired,

Served in the USAF: Dec. 7, 1959 to Dec. 31, 1980

Born: May 18, 1939

Died: July 16 2008

http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=SBVTimeLine&type=Person&ID=298345

Buried: Burial be at Camp Butler National Cemetery at 10 a.m. Monday, July 21, 2008. Plot Z169

I died as the result of an accident on I-39 near Rockford that occurred on June 3, 2008. My wife and I ended up in the hospital on the return visit from a graduation party in Mountain, WI. I was driving and lost consciousness and she tried to control the pick up but we ended up in a ditch. A tree branch broke through the window and into my head. My wife had fractured ribs. Our 2 cocker spaniels were also injured.

I was born in May of 1939 in a two-room cabin near the village of Creston, in the hills of “West by God Virginia”, the eldest son of nine children, 6 girls and 3 boys, so you can understand why I am so respectful toward women. I still fear for my life. Almost everything that happened to me wasn’t my fault one of them would do something to me, I would retaliate, then they would gang up on me. I suppose that is where the term “gang warfare” came from.
My Irish ancestors came to America just before the Revolutionary War. Many of them served in that war. We were farmers and raised our fruit, vegetables and animals on a 160-acre farm. I knew where I came from but didn't know how deep my roots were until my wife found ancestry going back to the Revolutionary War. It gets complicated as you can see.
https://sites.google.com/site/connollypatriot/

Harvesting the vegetables and butchering the animals was hard work. Our day would start about 4:30 in the morning. On the day we were to butcher, our neighbors would already be there. They would come from miles around to help, in turn we would go to their farms and help them, this was a way of life at that time and would always take place between July to late October. Making sorghum molasses was great fun, and again hard work, cutting the cane fell to the adults, feeding the cane press fell to the “young’uns”, Dad would give each of as a piece of cane to chew on, quite a sugar rush. They called us “younguns”. I think it was a term of endearment.

Everything was preserved for the long winter that lie ahead, women would pick the fruit and vegetables, the men would butcher the animals and start the met curing process - always by air salt cure or in smoke houses. This is the way things were done in the 30’s and 40’s.

My family moved to Ohio in 1952. That was quite an experience for us, first there was the language barrier, and I couldn’t understand what they were saying. After learning the language, I graduated from Hackney middle school and Beverly High School; I worked for two years as a farmer and wood worker. I joined the Air force in December 1959 when the recruiters bribed me out of the hills with a Hershey Bar. I served in several countries, including three tours in Vietnam. I retired in 1981 after 21 years at the rank of MSgt.

I was a confirmed bachelor until the age of 35 when I married Rosemary Kapp, March 6 1975 at Barksdale AFB, LA. I met Rosemary in the Air Force almost tow years earlier while she was engaged to a sergeant who drooled over my 1972 Lotus Europa that I had saved to buy with cash while in Vietnam. Her then fiance asked me to watch over her for a year while he was in Korea. During that time, I convinced her to bachelorhood also. She got an assignment to England. In order to go together, we need to get hitched. The rest is history.

After my retirement, I became an Air Force spouse. We have two sons, Sean and Alan, who were rebellious and joined the Marines instead of their parent’s footsteps.

Here we are dressed up in suits for Easter Sunday Mass. That's not a real smile for a picture but giggle since the boys were playing.

My trade is in automotive maintenance and I am ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) and MACS (Master technician) certified. I worked as an automotive instructor and technician for several years as a second career.

I was a late joiner but got my life membership in American Legion Post 759 and VFW 755. In fact my VFW life membership service cap arrived in the mail shortly after I passed away and I never got to wear it. I was a Shriner assigned to a temple in Oklahoma. I was also a member of our local Knights of Columbus.

As for getting involved with the Old State Capitol, Rosemary volunteered me. It was her way of getting me involved and she knows how much I love history. I am addicted to the History Channel and I remember what my father taught me, (remember your history or you are bound to repeat it). I enjoy being on the seasonal staff. This photo was found on Flicker.

I enjoy NASCAR racing. My favorite drivers are the late Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and the other Chevrolet drivers.

I love the pets. We have 2 cocker spaniels and a cat named Dave. Dave is somewhat bewildered; he thinks he’s a dog. The dogs think they are people.

My favorite hobby above all is cooking. I like trying new recipes and developing my own. I enjoy cooking South Western and Italian foods. They are my favorites. There are so many variations and can be prepared in several ways.

Rosemary and I are active in the Catholic Church as lay ministers. I also cook during the fundraisers when I am not working.

There was a time that I had a full head of hair. My brothers did not go bald like I did.