[Vision2020] Thank You Moscow

Sat Jul 23 22:05:51 PDT 2005

Donovan;

May God lighten your heart and make your days go easier.  Time and His Love 
are the Greatest Healing Power.

J  ;)

>From: Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>
>To: Linda Pall <lpall at moscow.com>, vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: [Vision2020] Thank You Moscow Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 16:39:36 
>-0700 (PDT)

>I want to thank Linda Pall and all the other well
>wishers for their kind and sympathetic words regarding
>the passing of my grandmother Doris E. Connelly.
>
>These last two weeks have been hard on my family
>dealing with her illness, death, and funeral.
>
>I want to give special thanks to the folks at Aspen
>and Gritman for the great and loving care they gave
>Doris in her final years and days. She was happy with
>their care and fondly referred to Aspen as "home".
>
>All of Doris's close family members were blessed by
>being able to say good-bye. She was fully mentally
>competent until her last breath. Doris felt no pain in
>her final hours.
>
>For those interested I have attached a copy of her
>obituary. One of her great accomplishments not listed
>in the obituary was that she was a wonderful
>grandmother. Doris at one time was my legal guardian
>and I lived with her. She played a significant role in
>my life beyond most grandmother-grandson
>relationships. I miss her greatly.
>
>She is now resting with her husband Leland G.
>Connelly, one child, a sister, both parents, and other
>relatives in the Moscow Cemetery.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Donovan J Arnold
>
>
>OBITUARY:
>
>Doris E. Connelly
>
>     Doris E. Connelly passed away Tuesday, July 19,
>2005, at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, Idaho, at
>age 84 from complications of diabetes.  Doris was born
>on November 23, 1920, to Eddie and Louise Kane
>Erickson in Devils Lake, North Dakota.  She was one of
>eight brothers and sisters who grew up in Edmore,
>North Dakota, during the Great Depression and Dust
>Bowl of the 1930s in a family home with no indoor
>plumbing or electricity.  She graduated from Edmore
>High School in 1938, and Mayville Teachers College in
>1940.  She taught in various one-room school houses in
>rural North Dakota.
>She married the love of her life, Leland G. Connelly
>in Seattle, Washington, in 1942.  She then became a
>“camp follower,” following her husband to various Army
>training bases around the country until he was
>stationed overseas from 1943 to 1945. During that
>period, she moved to Moscow, Idaho, to live with
>family members who had moved there to work during
>harvest.
>     When Lee was discharged from the Army at the
>conclusion of World War II, he joined Doris in Moscow
>and they started a family and a business, Tri-State
>Distributors.  In 1968, when Doris was 47, Lee died
>suddenly of cardiac arrest, leaving Doris and five
>children at the family home.  By necessity, Doris took
>over as President of Tri-State, which continued to
>grow and prosper under her strong and dedicated
>leadership.  She remained active in the business until
>the late 1990s, stepping down when her children,
>Gerard and Mary, came of age in the late 1970s.
>      In 1949, Doris and Lee were blessed with the
>birth of their daughter, Annie, born with a
>developmental disability.  That event began a lifelong
>commitment to service and advocacy for people with
>disabilities.  Lee is credited with establishing the
>first school in Moscow for children with handicaps,
>the Moscow Opportunity School, when Annie was five
>years of age. Doris worked side-by-side with Lee in
>this endeavor.  In 1974, when the federal government
>mandated that individual states provide education for
>children with disabilities, the Opportunity School
>converted its assets into a foundation and Doris
>remained on its Board of Directors until 2001.  The
>foundation today continues to provide grants for
>people with disabilities in Latah County.
>     In 1979, Doris became one of the original members
>of the Board of Directors of Stepping Stones Inc.
>Although many dedicated board members deserve credit
>for establishing the first group home in Moscow for
>adults with developmental disabilities, none provided
>a more key role than Doris.  She took the risk of
>purchasing a house, Group Home One, and subsequently
>donated it to Stepping Stones.  At this  same
>organization’s most recent meeting of the Board of
>Directors, it was announced that Doris was near death
>and board members stated that Stepping Stones might
>not exist today if it weren’t for Doris.
>Doris loved spending time with her family, especially
>at her cabin on Coeur d’ Alene Lake.  Reflecting on
>her life, Doris said, “I’ve had a great life.  I’ve
>had fishing, bowling and bridge.” Her daughter Mary
>asked, “What about your kids?” and Doris, with her
>usual quick wit, replied, “Oh yeah, them too.”
>     Although she initially did not want to live in a
>nursing home, a friend told her that some people don’t
>go there to die but to live a better life, which she
>did at Aspen Park Healthcare where she established
>friendships with the staff that she treasured dearly.
>Doris and her family are deeply grateful for the
>loving care of the Aspen staff, as well as the giving
>doctors and nurses at Gritman Medical Center during
>her final stay.
>     Doris is survived by four children, five
>grandchildren, and two great grandchildren:  Michelle
>Arnold and husband Mike in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho;
>Michelle and Mike’s children, Reenie Arnold and
>Donovan Arnold of Moscow; Tige Arnold and his wife
>Julie, and their two daughters Felicia and Paige of
>Boise; Doris’s son Gerard and his wife Cindy, and
>their three children, Mackenzie and Cherish of Troy,
>and Zach Ahlers of Portland, Oregon; Doris’s daughters
>Annie and Mary Connelly, both of Moscow, and the
>family’s great friend, Carmen Haddock of Moscow.  Also
>surviving are several dozen nieces and nephews. She
>was preceded in death by her husband, Lee, a daughter,
>Maureen (Reenie) her parents and all seven of her
>brothers and sisters.
>      In lieu of flowers, Doris requested that
>donations be made to St. Mary’s School Capital Fund,
>412 N. Monroe, Moscow, Idaho 83843.   The Rosary is
>scheduled at 2:00 p.m. Friday, July 22, 2005, with the
>funeral mass to follow at 2:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s
>Church in Moscow.
>
>
>--- Linda Pall <lpall at moscow.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear Visionaries,
> >
> > As many of you may know, Donovan Arnold has suffered
> > a great loss this week.
> >
> > His grandmother, Doris Connelly, passed away Tuesday
> > and her funeral was today, Friday. Mrs. Connelly was
> > the wife of the founder of Tri State on the Pullman
> > Road and on her husband's untimely death, was forced
> > to step in, run the business and take care of her
> > large family besides. She was a great advocate for
> > people with developmental disabilities at a time
> > when most of the rest of the world would rather have
> > (and tried to!) forget them or shut them away.
> > Stepping Stones, Inc., grew out of her efforts.
> >
> > Donovan and Moscow have both lost a great role model
> > and citizen.
> >
> > Linda Pall>
>_____________________________________________________
> >  List services made available by First Step
> > Internet,
> >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >
> >                http://www.fsr.net
> >
> >           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >
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> >
>
>
>
>____________________________________________________
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>
>
>_____________________________________________________
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

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