Joseph "Joe" Connors

Joseph (“Joe”) Connors, age 73, of Arlington, VA, died Monday December 20, 2021, at 4:44 p.m., at the Virginia Hospital Center after undergoing emergency surgery for abdominal pain that started on Friday December 17th evening. He died peacefully with Anne Ralte, his beloved wife of thirty-six years by his side, and goodbye call-ins from family and friends.

Joe was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Stoneham, MA, with his parents, three older sisters, and a close-knit, fun-loving extended family of aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, and cousins. He worked at Friendly’s and painted houses to pay his way through college and received partial basketball scholarship at UMass Amherst where he played basketball with “Dr. J” (Julius Irving). After college, Joe served his country as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines addressing trafficking and abuse of women and fearlessly disrupted the begging syndicate’s use of street children. After the Peace Corps, he continued to work there to prevent dynamite fishing and other social causes. In 1986, with camera in hand, he was embedded at Camp Aguinaldo with the People Power (“Yellow”) non-violent revolution and was the first to report that President Marcos had left the country.

He was a fearless adventurer who loved travelling, hiking, mountain climbing, and scuba diving. His good looks and natural ability to connect with people landed him modeling roles, commercials, and movie parts including in Wonder Women (1973) and a cameo role as one of the helicopter gunmen in Ride of the Valkyries, Apocalypse Now.

Stumbling by chance to work with metals, semi-precious stones, and wood, and with an eye for design he created unique wearable art in the U.S. and Canada. He created the “Bayanihan” (meaning “coming together as a community”) silver earring collection in the Philippines, then partnered with a San Francisco-based artist on inlaid Intarsia jewelry (featured in Harper’s Bazaar), and later the famous cross embedded in a crystal heart pendant, “The Quiet Cross.” He also conceived and designed a belt with no buckle that he called the “Unbuckle.”

As his jewelry business grew, so did his love of photography where Joe fine-tuned his self-taught skills and became world-renowned for several famous photographs including The Capitol in Snow of the United States Capitol. This photo recently landed him the Special Artist Feature of the week in Winter Wonderland. His empathy, discerning eye and journalistic instinct captured joyful interludes of people living in poverty in Mumbai slums, and playful, happy children in torn dirty clothes in Cambodia. He connected with them on a human level, making them laugh, and recently wondered what happened to them. Always an enthusiastic champion of Anne and her lifelong work in international development, he donated photography services to non-profit organizations, with emphasis and interest in documenting blindness in Asia and Africa.

Joe had many life challenges which he always overcame with a “never give up” attitude, and his ever-ready smile to help others belied his own daily physical pain. He survived the January 1982 World Airways plane crash into Boston Harbor that left him with persistent back pain. He miraculously survived an emergency open heart surgery with intuitive decisions at critical moments that saved his life in 2009. Among other challenges, he overcame stuttering when he was young to become a great natural communicator. Joe was different, open to all possibilities. No wonder he encountered unique funny situations that could only happen to him. He loved his Peace Corps experience in the Philippines and told tales that prompted “tell me that story again” (and again) from his young nephews and nieces, enthralled with their dashing uncle’s adventures.

Joe was an extraordinarily gifted artist, a successful entrepreneur, and an accomplished photographer but more importantly, Joe was a good friend to all he met. With his genuine love for people combined with his quick and quirky sense of humor you were a stranger with Joe only once! He was so happy to help you no matter what the need and always made you feel so special. Joe was a man with rare gifts of love for people and joy in living who (from an early age) thought his job was to make people laugh and lift their spirits. Joe was a playful jokester and loved connecting with people whenever he got the chance. Although most people know him by his jokes, he was a beautiful pure spirit who continuously sought answers to life’s problems. He willingly shared his wisdom and generously gave his time to listen to people’s problems and went out of his way to find solutions that were often creative and non-traditional. His daily message to anyone who would listen was, “take your turmeric and with black pepper.” His long-time friend Beanie wrote, “If he can't help you solve your problems, he can make you laugh so hard that you'll forget you even had a problem to begin with.”

Joe is survived by his wife Anne, with whom he shared forty-two wonderful years full of fun, laughter, and simple joyful moments. Joe initially caught a glimpse of Anne at the airport when she first arrived in the U.S. (1971) the same day he left for his Peace Corps assignment; he saw her again many years later in the revolving door of Bloomingdales, NY, and this time old soulmates reconnected. He was her champion, coaching her to become who she is today.

Joe was the youngest child of Mary and Joseph Connors (both deceased) from Stoneham, MA. He is survived by his older sisters Janie Hanright and Judy Moore, nephew John (Nancy) and their daughter Alexis, nephew Jeffrey (on whose birthday Joe met Anne), niece Kim Racca (Anthony)and their children Samantha and John; he was predeceased by a sister, Joyce. He had a special relationship with Anne’s Hoople family (who had brought her from north-east India where she was an orphan) and is survived by mother-in-law Sally, sister-in-law Nancy, brothers-in-law Douglas (Gwen) and David (Wanda) and his children Peter and Emily; and Uncle Bob DeGroot and Aunt Pat (recently deceased) who he liked to call in different accents just to make them laugh. He had a bond with his father-in-law Don Hoople (deceased) who he thought was a special person. Joe is survived by many close cousins that he loved and was eager to meet at a family reunion early December.

“Do it Different” – this is how Joe saw himself. Joe was unique, multi-faceted. The most important thing Joe wanted people to know about him is his kindness and his efforts to help others, emphasizing it was always done in a quiet way. “Uncle Joe” to young and old, Joe changed the lives of many, spreading love and hope wherever he went. His nephew John once wrote, “Joe has the rare quality of putting others before himself, just to see others flourish in their own life. That is his gift, his talent, and his true heart. He is loved and respected by the full spectrum of humanity he has the pleasure of meeting. A street sweeper in New Delhi to a Head of State, Joe has the same courtesy, respect and passion for each, and every human being.”

A Celebration of Joe’s Amazing Life will take place in the Spring, one in Arlington, VA, and one in Stoneham, MA, with a Church service. Deeply troubled by the January 6th event, Joe was in the process of creating awareness to protect the U.S. Capitol as a national treasure using his renowned photo The Capitol in Snow (https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-capitol-in-snow-joe-connors.html). Joe’s full body of work can be seen at Joe Connors Art Collections (https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/joe-connors) capturing images from around the world and spin-off digital designs from his original photos. He lives on through his photos.

In lieu of flowers, please donate “In Memory of” Joe Connors to the United States Capitol Historical Society (USCHS). Select “make a memorial gift” (https://uschs.org/support/ways-to-give/). Tax-deductible donations can be any amount (“select other”) and anonymous. If you wish to notify the family, complete the Send Notification section on the USCHS website, using the information below.

Barbara Ferris

President, International Women’s Democracy Center

1101 17th Street NW, #301

Washington, DC 20036

Tel: 202-530-0563

Email: [email protected]

A Celebration of Joe’s Life will take place on Saturday, June 4, 2022. This is by invitation only. For information, please contact:

Barbara Ferris

President, International Women’s Democracy Center

Email: [email protected]