Obituary
It is with profound sadness that we announce that Jim passed away after a long battle with lymphoma at the Cross Cancer Institute on Sunday the 4th of December, 2016, at 65 years of age.
He will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Sue Kessler; son, Chris Connelly (Janice); brother, Liam Connelly (Lorna); the family dog, Ruby Tuesday; and many extended family members and friends.
Jim was predeceased by his parents, Dr. William Joseph Connelly, and Marie Patricia (née McDonald); his older brother, John Martin (Marty); and previous guard dog, Jesse James.
Jim was born in Glasgow, Scotland and immigrated to Canada aboard the Saxonia in 1957, where the family lived briefly in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. The family moved to Ottawa, Ontario in 1960, and Jim attended Regiopolis College (Jesuit boarding school) in Kingston, then attended the University of Ottawa, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Latin, English) in 197?
Jim began a career in Records Management at the National Archives of Canada, starting work in the mailroom, and working his way up. He moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1979 to assist in the development of the records management program for the Government of Alberta as a consultant and trainer, and later served as a records manager for several departments within government. He was committed to his profession gaining certification as a CRM (Certified Records Manager) from the ICRM and was a frequent Canadian and International speaker for ARMA International, and had several articles published in professional journals.
Jim met Sue through their work in the Government of Alberta, and were married at the Coco Palms Resort (where Blue Hawaii was filmed) on the island of Kauai, in Hawaii in 1986, and they just recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Their son, Chris, was born in Edmonton in 1987. The family moved to Victoria for a 2 year stay when Jim worked for the BC Government, and returned to Alberta in St. Albert in 1990, forming his own business, Connelly Consulting, an independent records management consulting firm. Jim travelled extensively as result of this endeavour, working on projects in many faraway places with foreign customs such as the United Arab Emirates, Cypress, Libya, St. Lucia, Colombia, and Fort McMurray.
When Jim was at home in Canada, he loved to play golf, teaching son Chris to manage 18-hole tracks at a young age. He also had driving duty to 5 AM hockey practices, and was a dedicated scorekeeper/timekeeper for all of Chris’ minor hockey career.
In the past few years, Jim had been semi-retired, and he and Sue enjoyed their travels to Italy, France, Portugal, England, and home to Scotland. Jim’s rules for travel was that for every castle or cathedral Sue got to visit, he was entitled to visit an equivalent number of local pubs. It made for enjoyable travels, and many a good story, which Jim endeavoured to with any who would fill a pint, pull up a chair, and listen.
A Funeral Mass will be held at 2:00 p.m., on Friday, December 9, 2016, at Holy Family Catholic Church, 75 Poirier Avenue, St. Albert.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Jim’s name can be made to the Cross Cancer Institute, 11560 University Avenue Northwest, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1Z2.
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de James “Jim” Christopher Connelly.source
death notice James “Jim” Christopher Connelly – mortuary notice James “Jim” Christopher Connelly