Elizabeth Connelly

Elizabeth Smith Connelly passed away peacefully on May 30, 2020 of natural causes at Credit Valley Hospital, just 4 months shy of her 100th birthday. She lived a full life, enriched by family, reading and a lifelong passion for continued learning and growth.

She was born Elizabeth Smith Trodden on October 5, 1920 to Mary and John Trodden of Stevenson, Scotland. Her childhood in Stevenson was filled with her family and siblings (Mary, Helen and Denis), an abundance of books and the importance of education. She won the Glasgow University National Bursary Competition allowing her to go to the University of Glasgow to obtain a Master of Arts degree and become a teacher. It was while she was a teacher at the Girvan Sacred Heart R.C. School that she met her future husband John Connelly, while he was on leave from the RAF. They were married on September 20, 1947 at a double wedding with her sister Helen Trodden and Michael Hughes. They immigrated to Toronto, Canada where John worked at A.V. Roe, as a draughtsman for the Avro Arrow. When John was sick with tuberculosis, Elizabeth went to work for Avro as an Analog-Digital Computer Operator. With other women, she read the camera shots of the instrument panels from the test flights and recorded the findings on charts and graphs. Together Elizabeth and John had 4 sons, Hugh, John, Kevin and Joseph.

Elizabeth lost her husband in a car accident in October 1959. She remained devoted in her love for John for the rest of her life. She returned to work as a teacher for the Toronto Catholic District School Board and enjoyed teaching music, religion and physical education, especially Scottish country dancing. She became a principal in 1964. She continued to learn and got her Master of Education from the University of Toronto in 1974.

She retired from teaching in 1982. Her retired life was filled with family, travel and friends. She saw the world with her good friends Irene, Ruth and Sister Marcella. She was active in her church community at St Andrew’s and later at St Margaret of Scotland. She loved her grandchildren and spent much time with them. She had many memorable rescued dogs in her lifetime. In her last years, she was blessed with great grandchildren. She loved talking to them, emailing them birthday wishes, and she had even learned how to use Facebook so she could follow pictures of their lives. She enjoyed all the people who regularly came to visit her at her home and who would sit for a cup of tea and a chat.

She is predeceased by her parents, her sisters Mary Duffin (Hugh) and Helen Hughes (Michael), her brother Denis Trodden (Betty), her husband John, her daughter-in-law Mary Connelly (Joseph) and her grandson John Connelly. She is survived by her four sons Hugh (Marnie) of Ottawa, John (Gloria) of Ottawa, Kevin (Charlotte) of Mississauga and Joseph of Calgary; her grandchildren Sarah, Fiona (Matt Wolf), Erin (Andrew Huntley), Gillian (Eric Leclair), Jack (Brooke Connelly) and Shea and her great-grandchildren, Liam, Eleanor, Henry, Gareth, and most recently Thomas. She will be missed by her family both in Canada and in Scotland. We were so blessed to have such a long time with her in our lives.

A requiem mass will be held at St. Margaret’s of Scotland Church at a later date. Donations in memory may be made to St. Margaret’s of Scotland Church, 222 Ridley Boulevard, Toronto, ON M5M 3M6 or St. Vincent de Paul Society of Toronto.