Maisie Connolly

Maisie J. Connolly, 94, passed away peacefully on April 2, at her home of more than sixty years, in Little Silver, New Jersey. A longtime resident of the Jersey Shore, she was raised on a small family farm near Jefferson and was the first in her family to attend college, of which she was extremely proud. The daughter of Joseph Elwyn Johnson and Dorothy Mary Naylor Johnson, Maisie was born in Bristol Township in Greene County on Sept. 9, 1920. The second of three girls, she grew up on her parents’ farm near Farlin, which is now a “Century Farm” that she still owns along with her sister. There, she began her education in a one-room schoolhouse with a teacher who arrived by horseback. She then matriculated from Jefferson High School as salutatorian and went on to the University of Iowa, graduating with a degree in business.

Following college, Maisie worked briefly in Des Moines and then joined the office of the FBI in Cleveland, Ohio where she met her future husband, Special Agent Michael J. Connolly. They married and subsequently moved to Red Bank, New Jersey. She worked in several secretarial positions while raising her three children in adjoining Little Silver and spent most of those years working as the Executive Assistant at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank and at Monmouth Park Race Track.

Maisie was an avid sports fan and greatly enjoyed the years she was able to play golf with her very dear friends at Jumping Brook and Colonial golf courses. Her first love was always her family, but a very close second was her beloved Iowa Hawkeyes. She followed them with a passion that is difficult for anyone that is not from Iowa to understand. Maisie was also an avid genealogist and her legacy includes a rich and detailed history for family members to enjoy and treasure. She also enjoyed crossword and jigsaw puzzles, and was always eager for a hand of cards. She embraced learning to use a computer and kept in touch with family and friends via e-mail. Maisie will be remembered as a kind, gentle and caring mother, grandmother, sister and friend.

She is predeceased by her parents, Joe and Dorothy Johnson, her husband Michael, and her much loved sister and brother-in-law; Darlene and Harvey Mitchell of Jefferson, Iowa. Her beloved sister and brother-in-law; Marge and Gabe Luther of Avondale, PA, daughter Susan, son James and his wife, Amy; and son Michael and his wife, Dee, survive her. Her five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren also survive her.

The family would like to sincerely thank Dan Mannel for providing some soil from the farm that we believe will comfort our mom in her final resting place.

She will be remembered at a funeral service at the Nativity Roman Catholic Church in Fair Haven, New Jersey on the morning of Wednesday, April 8, 2015 at 10:00 AM. Burial will follow immediately at the Woodbine Cemetery. Friends and family are invited to attend a repast at the family home following the internment.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Scholarship Fund at the University of Iowa Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, Iowa 52244-4550 or to the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey, 176 Riverside Avenue, Red Bank, NJ 07701.