In Memory of Patty Lou Andrews(nee Connelly)(1955-2002)
(March 2018) I have been looking for a girl friend that I had in grade 13. I thought I might find her on the Glenforest Alumni site. One of the great mysteries of my life might be said to be, why was this beauty intriguing to me in the intervening 4.5 decades? I think it was because there was an eventful beginning and for me no end.
I thought she was out west in BC or somewhere else in the world. She could have been anywhere. And over the decades I searched the internet and other places looking for her, for after all you should be able to find anybody there. Maybe our paths would cross again and I could see how she was doing.
Back a number of years ago, I discovered an obituary outline. First name was right, last name different, she had married of course. No date of birth. Died in 2002.. can’t be her I convinced myself.
Tried again in March of this year….
I found her headstone and got her obituary and I want to tell her Glenforest Alumni what I have learned about her. Her married name is Patty Lou Andrews. To us, in 1974, Patty Lou Connelly. A beautiful young lady.
We had the last dance at the Sherway Gardens year end grad party. Englebert sang for us. It was my last embrace with her.
Patty Lou’s photo by-line in her 1974 grad photo was, “what can you do?”. She told me she was going off to university to get her degree("MRS"). I would go too, only for me the “can do” was at U of T in 1986. For her it was the University of Western Ontario in 1977.
Patty got her “MRS” in her final year there. She married the love of her life, Rob Andrews. She had met Rob as I would have predicted at the University of Western Ontario. Rob is a very accomplished engineer. They have two sons, Matthew and Michael.
Music is around me, not in me.
My great lifelong friends Ron Willmot (1974), and Jim Wicks (1974) have penned reflections about music on this Alumni site. Ash Clarke and Kevin Hooper have yet to comment. I suspect sometime they will. Both Ronny and Jimmy talk with affection about the Glenforest music program and Ozzie B. (Jimmy also adds- Mr Pfaff/Glenhaven).
What a tremendous influence these leaders had in their lives! I was a choir boy… The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music.. is the best I could do.
So what about Patty Lou?
She’s wasn’t in the Glenforest music program. Music must have been around her and not in her too? Among her many other career achievements, she was Shania Twain’s manager in the mid to late 90’s.
Shania Twain in her book, “From this Moment On”, writes fondly about her dear friend Patty Lou:
“Patty Lou had a husband and family and managed to be a traveling professional, a loving mother of two pre-teen sons, and a dedicated wife to her beloved husband, Rob. She was a shining example of how to do everything well. She spoke of her family constantly…”
“Patty Lou died suddenly of a severe brain aneurysm. I cried like a baby when I received the news. She was truly a special person, one who kept me laughing when I was grumpy from too little sleep and too many commitments. Her ability to remain calm and gracious under pressure was an inspiration.”
Patty turned out to be another leader in the music industry too.
For me, I found my friend Patty Lou in the last place I wanted to find her, and now,
“What can I do?” .
Patty Lou, in my memory, our last waltz will last forever.
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Brent Smerdon (1974)
In Memory of Patty Lou Andrews(nee Connelly)(1955-2002)
(March 2018) I have been looking for a girl friend that I had in grade 13. I thought I might find her on the Glenforest Alumni site. One of the great mysteries of my life might be said to be, why was this beauty intriguing to me in the intervening 4.5 decades? I think it was because there was an eventful beginning and for me no end.
I thought she was out west in BC or somewhere else in the world. She could have been anywhere. And over the decades I searched the internet and other places looking for her, for after all you should be able to find anybody there. Maybe our paths would cross again and I could see how she was doing.
Back a number of years ago, I discovered an obituary outline. First name was right, last name different, she had married of course. No date of birth. Died in 2002.. can’t be her I convinced myself.
Tried again in March of this year….
I found her headstone and got her obituary and I want to tell her Glenforest Alumni what I have learned about her. Her married name is Patty Lou Andrews. To us, in 1974, Patty Lou Connelly. A beautiful young lady.
We had the last dance at the Sherway Gardens year end grad party. Englebert sang for us. It was my last embrace with her.
Patty Lou’s photo by-line in her 1974 grad photo was, “what can you do?”. She told me she was going off to university to get her degree("MRS"). I would go too, only for me the “can do” was at U of T in 1986. For her it was the University of Western Ontario in 1977.
Patty got her “MRS” in her final year there. She married the love of her life, Rob Andrews. She had met Rob as I would have predicted at the University of Western Ontario. Rob is a very accomplished engineer. They have two sons, Matthew and Michael.
Music is around me, not in me.
My great lifelong friends Ron Willmot (1974), and Jim Wicks (1974) have penned reflections about music on this Alumni site. Ash Clarke and Kevin Hooper have yet to comment. I suspect sometime they will. Both Ronny and Jimmy talk with affection about the Glenforest music program and Ozzie B. (Jimmy also adds- Mr Pfaff/Glenhaven).
What a tremendous influence these leaders had in their lives! I was a choir boy… The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music.. is the best I could do.
So what about Patty Lou?
She’s wasn’t in the Glenforest music program. Music must have been around her and not in her too? Among her many other career achievements, she was Shania Twain’s manager in the mid to late 90’s.
Shania Twain in her book, “From this Moment On”, writes fondly about her dear friend Patty Lou:
“Patty Lou had a husband and family and managed to be a traveling professional, a loving mother of two pre-teen sons, and a dedicated wife to her beloved husband, Rob. She was a shining example of how to do everything well. She spoke of her family constantly…”
“Patty Lou died suddenly of a severe brain aneurysm. I cried like a baby when I received the news. She was truly a special person, one who kept me laughing when I was grumpy from too little sleep and too many commitments. Her ability to remain calm and gracious under pressure was an inspiration.”
Patty turned out to be another leader in the music industry too.
For me, I found my friend Patty Lou in the last place I wanted to find her, and now,
“What can I do?” .
Patty Lou, in my memory, our last waltz will last forever.