John M. Col. Connolly

Col. John M. (Mike) Connolly (USAF Retired) died Thursday, May 31, 2012 at his apartment in Austin, TX. He was 90 years old. Col. Connolly is survived by his wife, Marie Hauger Connolly; one daughter Mary Anne Connolly of Austin, TX; a brother, J. Douglas Connolly of Irving, TX; a sister, Mrs. Joan Wilson of Galveston, TX and numerous nieces and nephews.

Col. Connolly retired from active military service in 1977 after 30 years. His last assignment was as director of public affairs at Hq., Air Training Command, Randolph AFB.

Born on Feb. 6, 1922, in Rusk, TX, Connolly was a graduate of Sunset High School in Dallas; The University of Texas at Austin; and earned a Master's degree in public relations at Boston University while on active duty.

During World War II, after two years of study at UT Austin, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in December 1942. As a noncommissioned officer, he served in Europe as a high-speed radio operator in the 999th Signal Service Company, a unique unit that participated in the Allied invasion of Normandy and the ensuing four campaigns across Europe, ending in the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. At that time, in May 1945, the 999th had orders to stand down in Fulda, Germany, where his paternal grandmother was born and his distant cousins, surnamed Emmert and Friske, lived.

Discharged from the Army in 1945, he returned to UT Austin in 1946 to complete his studies. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1948, Connolly joined the staff of the San Antonio Express from 1948 to 1951.

After this short stint as a civilian newspaperman, Connolly was recalled to military service for the Korean War as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Assignments then followed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX, where he married Marie Louise Hauger in 1955; in Tokyo, Japan; at the then newly-established Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, CO; and in the Office of Information, Secretary of the Air Force, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, where the Connolly's only child, daughter Mary Anne, was born in 1965.

During the Vietnam War, he served during 1968-69 at Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, on the staff of the commander, 7th/13th Air Force, which directed U.S. Air Force combat missions against enemy targets in North Vietnam and Laos. The assignment following his Vietnam duty was as deputy director, then director of public affairs at Hq., Pacific Air Forces, at Hickam AFB, HI, from 1969 until the spring of 1974, when the Connollys returned to San Antonio.

During his Hawaii assignment, the colonel was given temporary duty from February to April 1973 as deputy director of the Joint Information Bureau for Operation Homecoming, based at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, which returned American prisoners of war held in North and South Vietnam to their families in the United States. On many occasions he characterized that experience as "by far the most rewarding of my career."

After three years as director of information at Training Command Hq. at Randolph AFB in San Antonio, Col. Connolly retired in February 1977.

He was awarded the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, The Bronze Star, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army and Air Force Commendation Medals and service medals from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He was a member of the USGA, a lifetime member of the Air Force Association and Ex-Students Association of The University of Texas, a member of St. Pius X Parish and a Knight Commander with Star of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

From 2008-10, Col. Connolly resided with his wife Marie at The Village of the Incarnate Word in Alamo Heights in San Antonio; then moved to Austin to The Summit Northwest Hills in 2010 and Parmer Woods assisted living communities in 2011, to be nearer to their only daughter. The family wishes to thank the caring staffs at Incarnate Word, The Summit, Parmer Woods, Heartland Healthcare Center, St. David's North Austin Medical Center and Hospice Austin for their kind and loving attention to Col. Connolly in his final years.

A solemn Requiem Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, June 7, 2012 at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 3303 Urban Crest Drive, in San Antonio, followed by graveside ceremonies with full military honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery at 11:45 a.m. Rosary will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 6, 2012, at Porter Loring Funeral Home, 1101 McCullough Avenue in San Antonio. An old friend, Monsignor Liam P. Brosnan, will officiate at all services.

Arrangements with

PORTER LORING

1101 MCCULLOUGH (210) 227-8221