Anna G. Connolly Irot

Anna Connolly Irot October 8,1922 - December 21, 2017   Anna Connolly Irot (known by relatives, friends and neighbors as Pat Irot) lived for 95 years. During that time, she passed many benchmarks, achieved many milestones, garnered numerous recognition awards and endured sustained applause. She was awarded fancy certificates, plaques, and was given beautiful crystal, marble and silver reminders of her services to the community. Attempting to name all of Anna Connolly Irot's many community achievements would only serve to diminish the glow of her individual accomplishments and singling out only out a few of those awards as important would be a disservice to the depth and breadth of her community work. Anna Irot was not a person driven by need for public recognition, she served anonymously and faithfully on many community boards, knitted baby hats for needy families, knitted afghans for homeless people, volunteered to assist in elections, was among of trio of friends who built the library's local history room, gave handsomely of herself for veteran's causes and volunteered for other library and multiple school system functions. In the great tradition of her Irish and Philadelphian heritage she lived a useful life. She was useful to her family, her students, her associates in volunteering, the teachers she supervised, the community in which she lived and to the country she served.   No simple story, no summary description can contain the richness of the life she led and the example she set for those who observed this special life in motion. When she was old enough she joined the WWII Women's Army Air Corps - where a fellow soldier gave her the name of "Pat." She was the "The Girl with a Star-spangled heart" in a WWII recruiting poster and served as the administrative secretary to the commander of Wright Patterson army air force base. During her military service she met her husband of 51 years- Peter Irot (deceased 1997) launching a marriage that produced 5 successful children. After birthing 5 children, Anna Irot graduated from college and followed that with an early master's degree in instructional reading. She taught school, became a school principal and a district administrator. Through the flow of her marriage and professional life -she engaged lifelong friendships maintained with neighbors, colleagues, volunteers and many others met along the way. Her life took her to dozens of countries and everywhere in the United States, but she always held a special place in her heart for her Irish relatives and all things Irish. On occasion she drank Irish whiskey, bought Irish linens, told Irish jokes and repeated Irish sayings while making dozens of trips to Ireland between 1927 and 2011. She was always an Irish lass.     Hers was a life well lived. Her home was the center of a family and extended family universe that spanned 5 generations. She practiced a warm hospitality that made all her visitors feel at home. She has been an inspiration for many people and many family members. She lived the golden mean, she practiced tolerance - gave acceptance - celebrated individual talent – and empowered those who listened to her advice with the wisdom of her dispassionate reasoning and the energy of her approval. It will not be what seems lost with the passing of Anna Connolly Irot that will mark her life, but the enormous bounty of experience, advice and love she left behind that will keep us warm and secure into the future. For those who want to memorialize her passing she would want you to do something useful for someone who needs help, or to give freely to a cause you care about.