Charles Francis Connelly November 07, 1929 – May 09, 2019 Share this obituary Send Flowers Sign Guestbook| Send Sympathy Card Charles F. Connelly Sr., 89 of Goodlettsville died at the home of his daughter, Cheryl Tison and her husband John in Whitehouse, May 9th,2019 surrounded in love by members of his family and care givers. He succumbed to an extended battle with cardiovascular disease. Charles, the youngest child and only son of Edward Francis Connelly and Ruth Malinger Connelly was born in the Bronx, November 7, 1929.
He was a true child of the depression having been born just 9 days after the stock market crash that sent the nation into hard times. After his father deserted the family, he along with his three sisters were raised by their mother and a series of foster families as their family struggled. He dropped out of school to get a job and help the family after his second year of high school.
He worked as a bus boy and waiter for Howard Johnson Restaurants as a teenager. An excellent athlete, he loved skating and playing hockey as a boy. Only 15 at the end of WWII, he was too young to serve.
At 17 he joined the NY Army National Guard and then enlisted in the Navy when he turned 18. While stationed in Augusta Maine, he met and married Marjorie McCracken in March of 1950. Together they raised a family of 5 children.
Chuck made the Navy his first career, serving aboard a destroyer as a gunner’s mate during the Korean War and completing an around-the-world cruise before returning home. After Korea, Chuck was trained as a Nuclear Weapons specialist and served on a number of aircraft carriers; with frequent extend deployments throughout his career. The family moved often as the Navy moved Chuck from duty station to duty station.
Chuck retired from the Navy in May of 1967 and began his second career as an agent for John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance. He remained with John Hancock until he retired again in 1991. In February of 1989, Charlie’s wife, Marjorie died after 39 years of marriage.
While attending a class for grieving partners, Chuck met Mary Evelyn Hess who had recently lost her husband of 40 years. Their friendship bloomed into a romance which led to their being married in March of 1990. They remained married until his death.
Together they were members of First Baptist Church in Joelton. After a fall at home last November, Chuck was cared for at the Whitehouse Rehabilitation Center in Whitehouse and then at the Grace Manor assisted living center in Nashville until being moved to the Tison home where daughters Cathy and Cheryl along with Cheryl’s husband John and Becky Haynie were his primary care givers. Chuck was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Marjorie and an older sister.
He is survived by his wife Mary, 2 older sisters, and his children; Bob Connelly and wife Kathy of Riverton, Wyoming, Chuck Connelly Jr. of Virginia Beach, Cheryl Tison and husband John of Whitehouse, Tennessee, Cathy Connelly of Whitehouse, Wendy Kline and husband Mike of Independence, Missouri as well as 9 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, 4 great-great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews Visitation will be held at Anderson & Garrett Funeral Home on Friday, May 17th from 1 P.M. until the hour of Service at 3 P.M. Donations in Lieu of flowers may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald,TN.
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