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When Virginia asked me to write an article about Carole Connolly, I couldn't really decide what I wanted to write or how to go about it. I quickly decided what I didn’t want to write, and that was a biography. I'm sure that many of Carole’s friends can fill in the biographical highlights of her very full life.. My intent was and is to try to detail the quality that set Carole apart in the way she dealt with life.

The quaility that stuck in my thoughts was the way Carole dealt with those life situations called second chances. To my mind, the mark of a person is most indelible, not when that person "straight arrows" through life, but when given a second chance, he makes the absolute success of the opportunity given him. Some twenty four years ago, John and Carole Connolly were married. It was a second chance for both of them. To have known them for these many years, it was very obvious that the second chance was certainly not wasted. The mutual devotion that they displayed made me reflect on the strength of that bond in relation to our lives. They were and are an inspiration.

The next second chance started horrifically. Almost exactly five years ago, Carole complained of a severe headache and suddenly collapsed. She had an aneurism burst in her brain. She was rushed to the hospital, then helicoptered to the University of Michigan Hospital. There surgeons performed incredible procedures and her life was saved. Her recovery was, to her, painfully slow. Nobody else was bothered by the speed of her recovery, it was a thrill just to have her with us. While recovery was slow, recover she did. She could have easily slipped into the life of a helpless, pampered invalid. We very quickly found out what a joke that would have been. During John's tenure as ABC president, Carole served as his "Hillary" with grace and that sly sense of humor. Subsequently, she took on the rather thankless duties of Treasurer of the American Boxer Club Charitable Foundation.. Her devotion to the job is practically legendary. Not a nickel of donation money received by the Foundation was unacknowledged. Each donor received a "Thank You" letter from the Foundation, signed by Carole Connolly. She took her second chance and turned it into a crusade for the betterment of our beloved breed. I think it is fair to say that the Charitable Foundation has achieved great success in its quest to raise research money. A large measure of that success is due directly to the efforts of Carole Connolly. Down the road, it’s very possible that the effort of this quiet, gracious lady will significantly affect for the good the health of our beloved Boxers.

On December sixth, what was so greatly feared came to pass. Another aneurism burst in Carole’s brain. This time there were no miracles. It was time to go. Given the consequences of this latest catastrophic event, even if she survived, it really wouldn’t have been Carole. That would have been unthinkable for all of us, but especially for Carole.

To end this tribute to a nifty lady, I can only repeat what I previously wrote to the Showboxer List. To those of us who knew Carole, she will be so sadly missed. To those of you who did not know Carole, you are poorer for that.