Dr. Daniel Charles Connolly

Daniel Charles Connolly died Tuesday, March 3, 2015, at age 93.

He was the youngest of six children in a family that hailed from counties Limerick and Tipperary, Ireland. After medical school at University College Dublin, he began his residency at the Mayo Clinic on April 1, 1951, and later got a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Minnesota. An early stint in the cardiovascular lab mentored by his hero, pioneering physiologist Earl Wood, drew him to cardiology. As they developed cardiac catheterization, he and his colleagues often experimented on themselves to improve the procedures.

He was a committed teacher about whom one of his many former students said, "I can't think of anyone else who managed to strike such a harmonious balance between sober analysis and humorous criticism." Connolly's research helped advance important understanding about cardiac ailments, including pericarditis, and the changing patterns of coronary heart disease mortality as part of the groundbreaking Olmsted County Epidemiology study. But his deepest commitment was to clinical medicine, to his patients, and to using his discerning ears and eyes to discover what in later years sophisticated imaging techniques would help to uncover. His Mayo career also included terms as head of the "Connolly" section in cardiology, president of the staff, and chairman of the clinical practice committee.

In 1956, he married Ruth Elisabeth Westrick, a psychiatrist and future associate warden of Rochester's Federal Medical Center. Marrying Ruth was, in his words, "the best decision I ever made." They were married for 51 years, had eight children, and relished spending time at Spider Lake, traveling, and with their large circle of family and friends all over the world.

Dan Connolly lived longer than any other member of his family, a longevity he credited to great care by his Mayo colleagues.

He is survived by eight children, (Marie-Therese, Heidi, Daniel, Patrick, John, Brendan, Timothy and Dena), their partners; 11 grandchildren, and Irish nieces and a nephew (Angela, Donal, Josephine and Eileen McNamara).

The funeral will be held at St. Francis Church on Saturday, March 7, at 11 a.m., with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. There will be a celebration of his life at 5 p.m., also on Saturday, at the Elizabethan Room at the Kahler Hotel.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the Poverello Foundation that helps Mayo patients in financial need, or to charities of donors' choosing.

Online condolences are welcome at mackenfuneralhome.com.