Emma Connelly

Middleton, Wis. - Emma Louise Haugan Connelly, (Emy Lou) who died Thursday, April 26, 2012 at the Haven, Attic Angel, Middleton, was born August 3, 1922 in Rosholt, South Dakota to Dora Priebe and Louie Haugan, a Norwegian homesteader. After high school, she went to business school in Minneapolis and then moved to Washington DC to work as a secretary. During WWII she joined the Women's Marine Corps and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and rose to the rank of Sergeant. It was there that she eventually met Sergeant Jack Connelly from Columbus, Ohio and they married on October 12, 1945. The Connellys were married for 24 years until Jack's death in 1969. They had three daughters, Patty, Bobbie and Kay. Before settling permanently in Columbus in 1951, they lived in Washington DC and Cherry Point, NC. As her girls grew up, they got involved in the Camp Fire Girl organization and Emy Lou was very active as a leader and volunteer. When Kay entered the first grade, Emy Lou returned to the work force as a secretary in the Columbus mayor's administration, the beginning of a long and happy career in government and Republican politics. In 1964, she became the executive secretary to the Franklin County Prosecutor, a position that she held under three prosecuting attorneys until she retired in 1996. She doted on her grandchildren, Brian and Andrew, sons of Bobbie and her husband Gary Eiler, and Robby and Matt sons of Kay and her husband Chuck Winger. She was a long time member of Trinity Lutheran Church. She played poker and mahjong at least once a week with a group of friends for nearly 50 years. She did incredible counter-cross-stitch pieces and most importantly she was an avid sports fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes and attended the football games from the 1950's to 2000. In 2008, for health reasons, she moved to Attic Angel in Madison WI, where she was close to Bobbie and Gary. Patty lives in Lyme, CT with her husband Bill Martin and Kay and Chuck in Toledo, OH. Services for Emma will be held Friday, June 15, 2012 at 11 a.m. at IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 204 NE 2nd Ave., Clara City, MN 56222. Gifts can be made in her name to the Attic Angel Resident Aid Fund, 640 Junction Road, Madison WI 53717.