CONNOLLY, Coleman Booth, 71, born February 26th 1945 in Boston MA. to the departed Mary (Booth) Connolly and Coleman Bartholomew Connolly, older brother to the departed Thomas “Tucker” Connolly passed away unexpectedly, yet peacefully on Dec 31st at his home on Golden Dr. in Winthrop, MA.
Coleman was survived by his former wife Charlene (Dombrowski) Connolly, their five children Michelle Gelman, Erin Latella, Colleen Pullin, Thomas Connolly, John Connolly and their eight grandchildren, Chelsey Burg, Dakota and Joey Gelman, Sadie and Jane Pullin, Raya Latella and Cailin and Bianca Connolly.
Coleman was a lifelong resident of Winthrop (except for a couple years spent soaking up the sun in Phoenix AZ. and a couple years spent living with family in Boulder County CO).
Coleman was better known as Cole or Coley to friends and acquaintances and became best known as Pops to his family.
Anyone who knew him knew you could find him sitting at his computer writing some new code to make a system work better or faster, or creating a challenge for himself to improve what he had already “perfected” (except for the graphics…...he didn’t seem to feel the need to make things look good….he didn’t see what that would prove?) Yet, if you had a computer question, you knew who to ask and he was always too happy to give all the advice he had and then some to the new consumer or troubled programmer!
He loved to have something to tinker with, a problem, something to figure out. He’d spend many hours working for solutions to things that really weren’t problems….but that was one of the many quirks that made him him, and it kept him thinking and it occupied his days.
He worked all his adult life with computers, but also loved being outdoors. He enjoyed tending to his vegetable garden and he liked to create art. He had begun dabbling with sketching and painting and got a great deal of enjoyment out of it.
Most of all, as many of you know, Coley had a love for the beach and on any given day, “beach day” or not, that is where you would find him. With his newspaper and pencil ready for the crossword and or jumble, a cooler full of snacks he may or may not actually eat and a container of cold milk, he would soak up the sun, the breeze, the sea salty air and the freedom he found in those days
Coley loved to tell a good story, well, he loved to tell any story! Those who knew him knew this all too well- no detail was too small or too insignificant to be left out and he knew not to ruin the story by getting to the point!
I couldn’t help myself at times, rolling my eyes, hoping he’d make his story quick, but I’d give anything to hear him babbling on about the different portion size of fries at McDonalds, Kelly’s and Belle Isle!
Coley loved his family, and although it’s been decades since we were a family unit living together, I still have fond memories of dad reading us bedtime stories. When we were younger, he worked in downtown Boston and I can remember how exciting it was when he had stopped into Barnes and Noble to bring us home a new Richard Scarry book. Those were an all time favorite and we spent hours looking for Lowly Worm.
We also loved a good family puzzle and when my sisters and I were little and all shared a room, the walls were covered with the laminated puzzles we had all created together.
Then there were the trips to the penny candy store that was an actual “penny candy” store! We would load up our buckets and worry about the cavities later!
He would be sure to make it to our sporting events, he’d cross the street cheering for me to come in last in the 440 and then cross back to yell at my brother and sister playing baseball and softball to “look alive” “get the ball!” Lot’s of those games would end with a ride over to Santarpios for a proper celebration whether the game was won or lost….which turned it into a win
Once again though, the best memories would come from long summer days at the beach. We would walk for hours along the surf collecting seaglass (which is such a less magical notion today knowing it’s all just Budweiser and Heineken bottles making their way back to shore!) But, we didn’t know and didn’t care back then... Now, the brown and green pieces were a dime a dozen, but a blue piece would get you an ice cream cone and the most sought after and most elusive red piece would get you a sundae!
These summer nights (or any night for that matter) wouldn’t be complete if Willie wasn’t playing in the background. I think it’s safe to say that our dad was Willie Nelson’s #1 fan, and he so enjoyed the story of what he likes to describe as the night he almost got arrested from buddying up to Willie at a show for a photo op. Well he didn’t get arrested and he did get his treasured picture, one that we’ll need to make four more copies of…..
For all the nice memories I can remember, I can also remember that Coley, Pops, Dad was never going to be given the father of the year award. He loved us all and he did the best that he knew how. He made mistakes along the way, as we all do and I believe he learned and grew from those mistakes. My siblings and I have joked in recent years about how proud we are of how much dad has grown up! He stopped getting mad when he didn’t get the perfect parking spot, he would just park wherever…..he stopped getting mad at the checkout girl for no reason….he stopped always having to be right…. He had patience and compassion for others and situations that he didn’t necessarily understand. He could see the mistakes he had made and he owned them.
It’s an interesting and eye opening gift to get to watch a parent go through these kinds of realizations.
I am grateful for and proud of the man my dad had turned into.
I hope he was too
Visiting hours will be held at the Maurice W. Kirby Funeral Home 210 Winthrop St. WINTHROP on Tuesday January 10th from 6:00-8:00pm. Cremation to follow will be private. For guestbook and directions, please visit: www.mauricekirbyfh.com.