DANVILLE -- Colleagues remember James Connolley as a soft-spoken, mild-mannered man who was very involved in the Danville community. The former Montour County Commissioner died on Sunday at the age of 82.
"Always had a smile on his face. He was always soft-spoken and had kind words to say to people. All in all he was just a good guy," Commissioner Trevor Finn said.
Connolley served as a commissioner in Montour County for 12 years. He was in office during the Agnes Flood of 1972.
"During that time, all hands on deck. We needed a lot of people to do a lot of things and he proved himself as a commissioner," Commissioner Jack Geist said.
James Connolley was born and raised in Danville. All three current Montour County Commissioners knew him well. They remember him as someone who was active in his church, and with organizations in the community.
"He was a very calm, cool, collected guy and he was just a nice man to be around. He will be sorely missed," Commissioner Jerry Ward said.
Connolley decided a few years ago he wanted to go to college so he enrolled at Bloomsburg University. He graduated in 2005 with a degree in communications. He was 74-years-old at the time.
"He was the oldest one in his class, I'm sure, but just so proud of it. He just went for it. He's an inspiration to anybody else," Susan Kauwell said.
Susan Kauwell worked with Connolley for eight years as Montour County's Chief Clerk.
"He was full of knowledge and presented his case and information as fine as anybody I've ever sat in a meeting with," Kauwell said.
James Connolley will be laid to rest on Wednesday in Danville.