Dear Friends & Family,
As many of you already know we lost our son Rob 3 weeks and a day ago on 2 October 2023. His death was a devastating loss and heartbreaking for all of us. We miss him every day.
We had a Family Memorial on 19 October 2023 at our home. Our family was together at last.
Rob was a special person with a big heart, absolute best loud laugh, a unique sense of humor, and had tons of friends.
Rob was generous, kind, funny, compassionate and smart. To know him was to love him. He was a great son, brother, friend, or co-worker. Rob had a special personality and was just a big man with a big smile with a one of a kind happy-go-lucky dog named Gunner.
Here is Rob's Story:
Rob was born in Hawaii in 1984 and moved 8 times as part of an Army family before graduating high school in Lawton Oklahoma.
From there Rob went to OSU Okmulgee earning an associates degree as a Chrysler Auto Mechanic. He later attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence studying engineering but decided to get married and join the U.S Army Infantry from 2009-2012. He served his country well earning the Expert Infantry Badge and other awards. Rob and his wife split after the Army but still remained friends.
After the Army Rob used his GI Bill to attend Evergreen College graduating with a BS degree in Ecology and a BA in Environmental Studies in 2016. He loved spending time on Mt Rainier as part of his course work. During this time Rob met a great partner with a young son and they had a special relationship for many years.
Rob also earned his commercial driver's license (CDL) with his remaining GI Bill and decided to earn some of the big money truck driving offered after college. Rob's company saw his potential and promoted him and he kept working in the driving and logistics field as well.
In February 2023 Rob bought a home built in 1916 in McCleary, Washington and over the next 8 months completely fixed it up. Rob was also looking for a new job at this time and started a new relationship with another special woman.
Sadly, on 2 October 2023 Rob took his own life due to some significant health and mental health issues that were not addressed quickly enough…
Although Rob's 39 years were far too short… the life he lived and chose was filled with love, laughter, adventure, family, friends, hiking, camping, hunting, travel, good times, fun relatives, games, jokes, good people, his dog Gunner.
Rob possessed excellent character, was a genuine and caring friend, served his nation and was a joy to be around…
He was loved, gave love, laughed, and made you want to be with him…
Rob is deeply missed by all who knew him. We all pray Rob is in a better place and we will be with him again… out there… knowing he made us all better for the time we spent with him… flip-flops and all….
Rob loved nature, trees, and flowers. He also loved spending time with his favorite people/his best friends. If friends desire, nurture a houseplant, plant some flowers or seeds at your favorite spot, or spend some time with your loved ones and friends in his remembrance, instead of sending flowers to Rob's family. We would love to see your photo in the future.
Love You Rob…
You are in our hearts forever…
The Connolly Family

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Thank You for Your Kindness:

Dear Family, Friends, & Friends of Rob,

15 November 2023



Mary Ellen & I, Julie & Ryan, Colleen & Steve, John & Ronni and Rob want to thank you all for your sincere and heartfelt kindness, prayers, love, mental and physical support, food, gifts, hugs, letters, notes, pictures, phone calls, thoughtful gifts, tears, laughter shared stories, and so much more... you all have truly been a God send... you all have given us the courage and strength to carry on...

Thank you for your thoughtfulness and caring. You all have made a difficult situation a little easier, our hearts a little lighter, and our peace of mind a little better, and we are moving forward...

Rob was and remains a special person in our lives. He had an uncanny ability to bring people together in a joyful and fun way and once you met Rob you truly wanted to be his friend. He emitted a constant source of positive energy with his sense of humor, funny sayings, spoofs, wise-crack comments, huge laugh, flip flops, and just down-right amazing personality.

When Rob met you, in a short time, you quickly enjoyed his company and wanted to be his friend. He was a magnet to fun. Rob had tons of friends all over the place and they were all kinds of people... character and heart is what mattered to Rob, nothing else mattered.

Rob was a generous friend, fearless in his willingness to try anything or join in on an adventure. He loved the outdoors, nature was his thing and he loved to be out in it. He loved Europe, Hawaii, Iceland, Costa Rico, Alaska in mid-winter/minus 50 wind chill, National Parks, Mt Rainier… remote and really cold was no problem for Rob.

Rob could fix anything and did, even when it was well beyond what others would even try to recover. He just had a McGuyver gene and loved the challenge. He loved his trucks… and saw every state in this country from an 18-wheeler at maybe 200,000+ miles??? Rolling along…

Rob was a loyal partner and friend and his heart was as big as he was. He gave all of himself, all in, 100%, when he had a relationship. Rob enjoyed having a partner and he thought young kids were entertaining and fun. He had at least 3 partners and one child he loved in his life…

Rob was just fun to be around. He was just the kind of person you wanted to hang out with, whether it was hiking, river rafting, dirt biking, karaoke singing, rope swinging into the river, hiking up a mountain, going to some fun event, or going on a travel adventure somewhere across America. He was up for anything and he made everything more fun and interesting.

When you asked Rob for help he would always be the first to show up, maybe in flip flops and shorts to paint a house, but nevertheless he would be present. He was on everyone's speed dial for car repair, heavy lifting (railroad ties and big furniture were a breeze for him) or back-yard barbecues and fire pit hanging while enjoying a beautiful dog Gunner with the same persona as Rob – happy, ready for anything, and willing to take the plunge… literally… any time… any where.

Rob loved family. He always made an effort to try and attend every wedding event/family reunion the Sundius Clan had (lots) and the Connolly Clan had, and he made them all even more fun. He wanted a family, enjoyed family and loved his family.

Bottom line... Rob was a special person to anyone knowing him. His loss to the world at 39 is tragic because he had so much to offer with his dynamic persona, big heart, bigger laugh and so many positive qualities. He truly cared about others and did his best to be a good partner, mentor, brother, son, friend, soldier, team mate, patriot, man of character, and American … and he was. And he is missed deeply…

Please remember Rob for the fantastic man he truly was and that would be the best gift of all. Mary Ellen told me once that she read that a person never really dies until the last time their name is spoken... so please speak of Rob kindly until we all meet him again "out there" somewhere. Rob will always be in our hearts and on our minds with a smile and sometimes a tear but always glad we had 39 wonderful years with this bigger-than-life person. Love you Rob.



Thank you all again for your kindness on behalf of the entire Connolly Family. God Bless You.



Jim, Mary Ellen, Rob, Gunner, Julie, Ryan, Colleen, Steve, John, Ronni,