Thomas Patrick CONNELL

Tom died peacefully on January 16, 2023 at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre after a sudden cardiac arrest. He was 64. Tom was the beloved eldest son of Frances and the late Thomas Connell of Campbellford. He is mourned by his surviving siblings; Margaret Elmhirst (Ron) of Campbellford, Frances Bazerghi (Adel) of Toronto, Gerry (Kim) of Dundas, Joseph (Margaret Curtain) of Cork, Ireland, Mary (Julian Kanarek) of Mississauga, Christina Smith (Chris) of Warsaw, Ontario. He was predeceased by his brothers Nicholas and Daniel. Uncle Tommy will be missed by his many nephews, nieces, cousins, and extended family throughout the world. He was a friend, mentor, and the fun uncle to many of them. Tommy was born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada with his family in 1964. He attended Campbellford District School High School before setting off on new adventures at the youthful age of 17. He lived a peripatetic life for many years, visiting and working all over Canada but he particularly enjoyed his years in Calgary with The Military Reserve, and his time at McMaster University, where he earned two degrees. Tommy was an avid reader, an intellect, and a great conversationalist but his greatest gift and pleasure was his writing; the craft to which he devoted many years of his life as both a professional journalist and as a chronicler of his own adventures, in the form of a novel. The novel, like Tommy, was always a work in progress. He persevered in the writing of it, just as he persevered in overcoming the many obstacles and challenges in his own life. His firsthand experiences provided ample plot developments and characters but defied any singular genre; it was, at times, a comedy, a drama, a tragedy, and sometimes a thriller. Keeping with Tommy's wishes, family and friends are invited to visit at WEAVER Life Centre - Campbellford, 77 Second St. on Sunday, January 22, 2023 from 2-4 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 51 Albert St. E, Hastings on Monday, January 23, 2023 at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Joseph's Cemetery, 300 County Rd. 8, Douro. In memory of Tommy, Memorial Donations may be made to the Campbellford Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Requiescat in pace, brother, xoxo.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them"