Joseph J. Connors ’63

Joseph J. Connors ’63 died peacefully on January 27. Joe was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and raised there and in Evanston, Illinois, where he attended high school. At Dartmouth he worked on the yearbook and graduated with an A.B. in English. He later earned a master’s in teaching from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he met his future wife, Marilyn. They were married in 1967. Joe’s passion was teaching, and he spent 42 years in the English department of Suffield (Connecticut) Academy, where he was chair for many years. He and his wife directed more than 50 theater productions and he advised the school newspaper and mentored thousands of students through the years. He was an early board member of the Wesleyan Writers’ Conference and wrote for several antiques publications. He retired in 2007, and he and Marilyn moved to Island Heights, New Jersey, where Joe was a 40-year member of the Island Heights Yacht Club. He was one of the organizers of the Junior Invitational Regatta, which developed into the Junior Olympics. In addition, Joe was a trustee of the Island Heights Cultural Association and served on the planning commission. Marilyn, his two sons, and their families survive him.