Obituary of Mildred Helen Connelly

On June 26. 2013, a little piece of history left the valley. Millie Connelly, who was born during the First World War, grew up in New York during the roaring twenties and the great depression. She was the youngest of 8 children, the first girl in her family to graduate from high school. After graduation she went to work at a high tech company called Eastman Kodak in Rochester NY. At that the research department was experimenting with a new idea of color film. She met her future husband Frank, who was working in the engineering department. She and Frank were married in 1940 and started their family before Frank was shipped to the south Pacific with the CB's at the beginning of WWII. Their family of five was complete (Frank Jr, Deedy, Tom, Steve and Dan) in 1951 just before Frank was recalled into the Navy as the Korean War was being waged. Frank was assigned to be the officer in charge of construction at the Naval postgraduate school in Monterey, CA. Millie flew from Rochester to San Francisco with her five children to meet Frank. She moved to the Santa Clara valley when Frank was asked to be project manager for the construction of Valley Faire shopping center. Millie and Frank were simultaneously active members of five different PTA's. Families had one car and children rode their bikes everywhere. It was a hopeful time in the valley of the hearts delight. Millie was one of the ladies exchanging recipes for dealing with the profusion of ripe fruit around the fourth of July. Her children were some of those laying out baseball diamonds in empty lots and open spaces. Millie worked as the secretary and accountant for Frank's engineering company. Franks work on projects in San Francisco, NASA, El Camino Hospital, Silicon Valley tech startups and San Joseph Cathedral in San Jose helped put their children through college and pay the bills. Millie was a pink lady for El Camino Hospital, a fundraiser and supporter for her church, her children's schools and for various scouting and little league organizations to which her children belonged. She was also a good athlete herself, a good tennis player, a good bridge player, and a good friend. She was a happy and popular soul. It was ladies like Millie who enriched and built the valley as much as the men who put up the buildings. She eventually became grandmother to 12 children, (Kathy, Frank, Sean, Ted, Christy, Teresa, Casey, Ryan, Kevin, Seano, Patrick, Dani), 12 great grandsons, (Colin, Bobby, Joe, Tom, Luke, Jake, Graham, Gabriel, Oliver, Presley, Rocko and Caden) and one Great Granddaughter, Caylie. Millie and Frank X were a good team and they are back together after 19 years. Services will be held at St. Simons church in Los Altos on 10 July at 10 AM




To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mildred Connelly, please visit Tribute Store