Gordon Montgomery Connelly

(1222-3763-243)

Gordon M. Connelly, 86, passed away on June 1, 2001 at a nursing home in Wheaton, Maryland. His Almy line came through William1 Almy, Christopher2 Almy, and Elizabeth3 Almy.

Gordon earned his degree in journalism at the University of Oregon, and subsequently held a variety of jobs: reporter for the Gresham (Oregon) Outlook (1938); interviewer, crew supervisor, and manager for several public opinion research organizations (1939-1946), Acting Director (1946-47), and then General Manager of Field Operations (1947-50) for the National Opinion Research Center; Research Director for the Denver Post (1950-56); Executive Director of the Colorado Survival Plan Commission (1956-58); campaign manager and administrative assistant for Colorado Congressman Byron Johnson (1958-60); and Social Science Analyst for the United States Information Agency (1960-77).

Gordon was a charter member of both the American Association for Public Opinion Research and the World Association for Public Opinion Research. He was also a member of the honorary journalism fraternity Sigma Delta Chi, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the American Newspaper Guild, and the American Federation of Government Employees. As co-chairman of the Colorado Committee of Racial Equality, he organized a demonstration that led to the desegregation of the Albany Hotel (Denver) restaurant in the mid-1940s.

Gordon had a wide variety of avocations. He collected autographs, butterflies, coins, fossils, political buttons, and seashells. He was twice Governor of the Colorado Mayflower Society, and, following years of genealogical research, he established his descent from Charlemagne, and was admitted to the Order of the Crown of Charlemagne. In 1985, he published The Leedy Family History about one branch of his family. He loved to travel, and his travels took him to all the states, as well as Europe, Russia, China, the Holy Land, Brazil, and Antarctica.

He lived in Garrett Park from 1960 until ill health forced him to move into a nursing home in 1997. Catherine, his wife of nearly 60 years, died in 1999. He is survived by his son Tim, daughter-in-law Dale, and grandson Jason Whitaker, all of Silver Spring, Maryland.

The above information is from an obituary his son Timothy sent me. I have known Gordon since 1976 when he lived in Garrett Park, Maryland, and I lived around the D.C. beltway in Springfield, Virginia. We met at D.C. Mayflower Society meetings and talked by phone many times. Also, he and his wife Catherine attended the Almy Family Reunion in Seekonk, MA, back in August 1982.

Gordon will be greatly missed by the many who knew him.