Nancy Cumming Connolly

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Mrs. Nancy Cumming Connolly, 73, died unexpectedly on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 at her home on Cumming Road. Her survivors are her husband of 50 years, David Hugh Connolly; and six children, David Hugh Connolly, Jr. and wife Harriet of Houston, Texas, Virginia Connolly Sykes, Jane Connolly Leonard, Lucy Connolly Shuler and husband Woody, all of Augusta, Nancy Connolly Tribble and husband Jack of Atlanta and Thomas Cumming Connolly and wife Etta of Mount Pleasant, S.C. Additional survivors include her brother, Joseph Bryan Cumming, Jr. and wife Emily of Carrollton; and sister, Neville Cumming Riley of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; 11 grandchildren; and a number of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. A graveside service will be held at 12:00 noon, Saturday, November 22, 2003 at the Summerville Cemetery on Cumming Road. The Very Reverend Robert D. Fain and the Reverend Stephen C. Britt will officiate. Mrs. Connolly was an Augusta native. She was a graduate of St. Marys School, Raleigh, N.C., and in 1951 of Wesleyan Conservatory, Macon. She was a lifelong resident of The Hill and a sixth generation member of her family to live on Cumming Road. Her family was long associated with Augusta and Georgia. She was the great, great, great granddaughter of Augustas first Mayor, Thomas Cumming, and the great, great granddaughter of Henry Harford Cumming, the Father of the Augusta Canal, and was the daughter of Joseph Bryan Cumming and Virginia Burum Cumming, both prominent in the cultural and social activities of Augusta and Georgia. She was a life-long member of the Church of the Good Shepherd. Mrs. Connolly continued a family tradition of community service. This included the Presidency of the Junior League of Augusta and recognition nationally as a Volunteer of Distinction by the Association of Junior Leagues International. She served two terms on the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, and was on the Board of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. She was President of the Augusta Symphony Guild, member of the Greater Augusta Arts Council, a board member of the Sacred Heart Cultural Center, President of the Sand Hills Garden Club, Augusta Town Committee Chairman of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Georgia, member of the Executive Committee of Historic Augusta, Inc., board member of the Augusta-Richmond County Museum, a member of the Board of Visitors of Kanuga Conferences, Hendersonville, N.C. and a trustee of the Summerville Cemetery. With her husband, she served on the Advisory Board of the Georgia Historical Society, and was community representative on the Augusta College Presidential Search Committee. She was a member of the Sundial Garden Club and The Augusta Assembly. Mrs. Connollys association with Augustas cultural and arts community was continued through her affiliation with the Augusta Players, Augusta Choral Society, Augusta Ballet, Augusta Opera Association, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Richmond County Historical Society, Augusta Mini Theatre, Augusta Jazz Project, and the Fort Gordon Dinner Theatre. In 1996, she received the Volunteer Award from the Greater Augusta Arts Council, and in 1992 she and her husband received the Angel Award from the Sacred Heart Cultural Center and the CSRA Girl Scout Council. Platts Funeral Home, Inc., 721 Crawford Ave., 706-733-3636. Sign the guestbook at AugustaChronicle.com