Constance Frances Donkin

We are heartbroken to announce the passing of Connie Donkin, April 11, 2025. Beloved mother, grandmother and partner. Connie was born May 19, 1939, in Bridgeport, the only child of Rose and Giuseppe Molé of Sicily, Italy. She graduated from Harding High School and worked as a secretary for several years. She was married to James Donkin in 1965 and together they raised two children.

Gradually moving up the Shoreline, her twenties were spent in Fairfield, she raised her children in Madison and later moved to Lyme to enjoy her retirement years with her partner, Augie. The peacefulness of their serene landscape in front of the Eight Mile River gave her great joy.

Connie’s passions included cooking wonderful meals for family and friends, antiquing, decorating, gardening and real estate. She was rather entrepreneurial as well and acquired a manufacturing business with her husband, started an antiques marketplace in Killingworth, and established and ran a beautiful Bed and Breakfast in Wilmington, NC. Connie always had a ready smile and kind words for her family and friends, noticing every little decorative flourish or new piece of jewelry. She was a loving mother who gave her all for her children. She was very generous, and she was never so happy as when she was giving thoughtful gifts to her grandchildren and friends.

Connie is predeceased by her former husband, James, and leaves behind her loving partner, August Bessinger; son Sean and his wife Samantha; her daughter Leslie and her husband John Bubello; and her nine cherished grandchildren.

A private celebration of life will be held with family and friends followed by the interment of her ashes at Eight Mile River Cemetery.