John J. Connolly

Stumbling upon this in 2020 as I was bragging to my children about what it was like to be in his 6th grade English class at The Highlands. It was indeed a rite of passage.
Mr. Connolly, may he Rest In Peace.

John Joseph Connolly--an old school gentlemen, a person of great character and wisdom. I had the honor of spending six years with him in 1954-1960. I knew him as an English and Latin teacher, a disciplined but compassionate dorm master, a speech coach, and most importantly a mentor. One writer remembers classical music. I remember classical jazz. JJC and Victor White provided most of my education at St. Mark's. Requiescat in pace.

Graham S. Gibbard, Class of 1960

A legend and an era have moved on! I will always cherish the encounters I had with JJ on St. Mark's campus back in the early 1960s!! WOW - if only I had listened more, thought more! Thank you Mr. Connolly!! Jack Vaughn

I owe my success in life to JJ.
Living with him on a daily basis from age 14 to age 18 was a scream! Listening to his Classical music next door and me trying to drown him out with "Blue Suede Shoes" was an every day contest! He beat us all at ping pong, but we got back at him with our "Pranks"!
He never quit pushing us to do better, but would never let you fall! His values were almost Godly, and only he could have ever achieved them! But, to have known a man with his high...

I've always been grateful for Mr. Connolly's willingness to teach 3 of us a third and fourth year of Latin. Yes, we memorized but it was in Latin, not English. A light gone out. Carl Estes, Class of 1953

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

JJ was our Class of '59 advisor and we dedicated out yearbook to him. Fifty years later we dedicated our 50th Reunion book to him as well and he came to our class gathering. In the reunion book each of us recounted our post-St. Mark's lives and I concluded my musings with the following:

"As the years have flown by, I've often thought about our time at St. Mark's, what it meant to us and what we meant to each other. In all those memories, John Connolly is ever present. I'm struck...

Mr. Connolly was --- and is of sterling character who taught us the concepts of honor, integrity and fortitude.... Qualities we could also see in the way he lived his life. I think a lot of us will always remember his teachings of "Beau Geste". I think we all also felt it was an honor to be in his classes.

JJ Connolly was one of my favorite teachers. His sense of humor was wonderful. One time a student came in wearing ankle weights as training for track. JJ said the student could wear them in class if he wore a Latin verb wheel at track practice! He will be greatly missed. My prayers are with him.