Obituary of Joan Rae Allen Connolly

Joan Rae Allen Connolly returned home to her Father in Heaven on August 25, 2022. Joan was born to Raymond Symington Allen and Dorothy Mae McClennan Allen in a small house in Clarkdale, AZ on June 9, 1937. As an infant, she moved to Bridgeport, AZ, where she lived until graduation from Cottonwood High School in 1955.  

After graduation, she moved to Safford where she worked for Valley National Bank and Mt. Bell Telephone Company.  On January 14, 1956, she married her high school sweetheart, Colin Leith Connolly, in an intimate ceremony at her childhood home in Bridgeport. 

Colin and Joan lived in Safford, Flagstaff, San Manuel, and Winslow and finally made their way back home to their precious Verde Valley, where Joan was a devoted wife, mother, and caregiver to many children in the Verde Valley. She was a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Joan loved all living things with her favorite hobbies and activities including camping, gardening, planting, harvesting, cooking, canning, and caring for animals. 

Joan is preceded in death by her parents Dorothy and Ray Allen; her infant daughter, Dorothy Jo Connolly; her sister, Susan Marie Allen Edson and a few other beloved extended family members.  She is survived by her beloved husband, Colin, of 66 years; 5 children and their spouses, Brenda (Rick) Stokes, Brent Connolly, Jolin (Lewis) Rice, Cheryl (Foster) Armstrong, and Becky (Bryan) Adamson; and her brother, William Raymond Allen (Peggy). Other survivors include numerous nieces and nephews, cousins, 23 grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren and are still counting. . . .

Services will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cottonwood, AZ on Saturday, September 3, 2022, at 4:00 p.m.  She will be laid to rest in the old family cemetery in Cherry Creek, AZ.