Kelly Elizabeth Connor

Kelly was born at Fort Benning, Georgia, on July 2, 1991, to Bonnie Smith and David Haight. As the daughter of a US Army Major General, Kelly grew up all over the United States and didn’t have an easy answer for “Where are you from?” She and her siblings—Shannon, David Jr., and Heather—relied on each other as steady friends through the constant change that comes with being a military family.

Kelly also relied on her pets for comfort and companionship. She referred to all dogs as puppies, regardless of age. Schnauzers, specifically, took up about 90% of the space in her heart. Panzer and Sassy Fras were the first furry loves of her life.

As a child, Kelly was sweet, easy-going, good-natured, and a peacemaker.

No matter where the Haight family lived, Kelly found her way onto sports teams. She played lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, and softball, and took to the field or court like a fish takes to water. Having teammates was really special for Kelly, and she loved the camaraderie, the competition, and the work.

The Haight family loved boating, and Kelly became an accomplished water skier, comfortably skiing slalom (on just one ski!). When she wasn’t behind the boat, she could be found in a kayak or on a WaveRunner.

After graduating from Carthage Central High School in 2009, Kelly attended Brigham Young University, where she continued to enjoy sports, both as an athlete and a spectator. Kelly was competitive and most of the time walked away with a win. When she didn’t, she was (almost) always a good sport about it.

One of her greatest collegiate accomplishments was finally, after four years, winning an Ultimate Frisbee intramural championship despite having a sprained thumb, a height-disadvantaged team, and two former BYU football players on the opposing team. The historic win was memorialized by the long-awaited championship T-shirt she’d eventually add to the T-shirt quilt her mom helped her make.

In 2013, Kelly earned a degree in communications, with a journalism emphasis, and a minor in editing. She spent a lot of time in the student newsroom as a reporter and as the sports desk editor of The Universe. Although he didn’t tell her at the time, the director referred to Kelly endearingly as the “newsroom puppy”—fitting for someone who loved dogs more than anything—because she always talked to everyone who was there (sometimes a little too much) and everyone wanted to talk to her. Just before graduation, she interned for a paper in New York City, honing her reporting skills and attending many Broadway musicals.

Post-graduation in Provo, Utah, she and her young professional friends enjoyed together what they fondly call “the glory days,” which were full of weekly Rita’s runs (Kelly's usual order was a mango gelati), late-night chats, car washes, warm summer nights, and—surprise, surprise—lots of sports.

Eventually, it was time to start a new chapter. In 2015, Kelly left Provo, driving across the country and then traveling around Europe where her parents were stationed at the time.

When back in the states, Kelly was drawn to North Carolina and her southern roots. In 2017, she joined the communications department in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and she was part of the NC COVID-19 Response Team honored in 2022 with the Governor's Award for Excellence for Outstanding Government Service.

It was also in North Carolina where Kelly met Zach Connor. Zach told Kelly he loved her in the first month of dating and had to wait eight more months for her to say it, but it was worth it. She loved Zach so much and appreciated his work ethic, humor, and thoughtfulness, and she admired his introspection and desire for self-improvement. She was both impressed by and confident in his ability to fix or build or make pretty much anything. Kelly and Zach were married and sealed for time and all eternity in the Columbia South Carolina LDS temple on April 27, 2019. The newlyweds honeymooned on a cruise to the Bahamas.

Throughout the years, whenever Kelly wasn’t busy working or studying, she was playing and enjoying life. Pickleball, volleyball, kickball, badminton, Ultimate Frisbee, flag football, soccer, softball, lacrosse—you name it, she played it. And she even parachuted. She often had music playing, and she also loved to read novels and poetry, appreciating their insights into the human condition.

She gave nicknames to her friends, pets, and cars—that’s how you knew you were endeared to her. With a tender heart and a predisposition for nostalgia, she enjoyed reading through her Grandma Smith’s collection of sentimental “Crushing Christmas Stories” every year. She also loved a good sad song. As tender as she was, she was also tough—a fierce competitor and highly capable. One of the highest compliments you could give her was that she was competent (although she didn’t need anyone to tell her that).

A proud American, Kelly always expressed gratitude for the people who sacrificed so much for her country, especially the military service given by both of her grandfathers, her father, her brother, and several uncles and cousins. All her friends learned quickly that we cheer for the Army and not the Navy. She liked sharing her birthday weeks with America and looked forward to sporting a slew of Fourth of July outfits throughout the week.

Kelly was a wonderful friend, the kind of person who would answer a friend’s phone call at 2 a.m. and sit in the closet to listen; who gifted dog tags to a friend whose brother was deployed; who checked in all the time on her nephew going through chemo; who helped her mom house hunt until she found their dream lake house.

Zach and Kelly bought their own home in Apex in spring of 2020. Having a big yard and a big need for a furry friend, in January 2021, her “sweet boy” Charlie joined the family. Kelly grew up with schnauzers in the family—the aforementioned Sassy and Panzer, as well as Leo and Pepper—so it was inevitable that a miniature schnauzer would be an integral part of her and Zach’s family. Charlie was her little shadow and her cuddle bug. You could frequently hear her say “he’s so precious” in her cute doggie voice even when he was being a ”Stinky Pete.” She loved to put her pets in little socks, sweaters, and Halloween costumes, and she single-handedly contributed probably most of the content on #SchnauzersOfInstagram.

After lots of prayer in hopes of growing their family, Kelly and Zach eagerly welcomed Elizabeth Mae Connor into the world on February 1, 2025. She was born with a head of dark hair and the sweetest cheeks. Kelly said sometimes she would just look at Elizabeth and cry because she loved her so much. She diligently cared for her new baby, making sure her daughter was healthy and comfortable at all times.

Kelly strongly believed in the promise of eternal families as part of her faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kelly served in many capacities, mostly recently as an advisor in the Young Women program. After Elizabeth was born, Kelly received a lot of service and was very grateful but missed being the one to pick up the slack and do things for others. She would’ve gotten back to that in time.

Kelly admired her parents and was grateful they taught her ”strength, fortitude, work ethic, empathy, efficiency, love, excellence, sympathy, compassion, forgiveness, patience ( . . . sorta), and kindness.” Kelly was a wonderful aunt and cherished her nieces and nephews, and she took great joy in sharing funny stories and bragging about them.

Kelly sacrificed so much to start a family with Zach. She will continue to be a wonderful mother to her little Elizabeth, and Zach has an endless supply of things to tell Elizabeth about her beautiful mother as she grows up.

We look forward to eventually reuniting with Kelly, but until then, we will do our best to be good friends, love deeply, serve God, play hard, and just have a lot of fun.

Kelly is enjoying a happy reunion with her grandparents, her brother-in-law Samuel Connor, and beloved pets Sassy Fras, Panzer, Leonidas, and Pepper.

Kelly is survived by her husband, Zachary Connor; her newborn daughter, Elizabeth Mae Connor; her sweet miniature schnauzer, Charlie; her parents, David and Bonnie Haight; her siblings Shannon (Eric) Francom, David Jr. (Bre) Haight, and Heather (Caleb) Anderson, her parents-in-law, Paul and Linda Connor; her siblings-in-law, Jessica (Nick) Holmes, Benjamin Connor, Julia (Jon) Larsen; four nieces and three nephews, and a host of other family members and friends who consider her family.

Time: Mar 29, 2025 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to a fund for Zach Connor and Baby Elizabeth.

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