passed away at the age of 99 on January 8, 2009 at her nursing home, Arrowsmith Lodge, in Parksville BC. A gathering and tea in celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, January 24th from 2:30 to 4:00 pm at Cokely Manor, 266A South Moilliet Street, Parksville.
Connie was born on March 4th, 1909 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Walter and Kate Linnitt. She was the middle child: she had two brothers, Ivan Linnitt who died at age two, and Leslie Walter Linnitt who lived into his late eighties and passed away in 1999. Connie taught grade 2 at Capitol Hill Elementary School in Burnaby from about 1928 to 1940. She married George Cullerne in 1940, and, according to the rules of that era, was not allowed to teach once she was married. Together George and Connie lived in Vancouver where they happily raised their daughter, Marjorie.
In 1989 Connie moved to Nanaimo, and in 1993 to Parksville where she continued to amaze family and friends with her quest to learn through books and the world around her. Her daughter Marjorie had even promised to take her to Malaspina’s Elder College again this Spring, 2009. Connie will always be remembered for her interesting stories, incredible memory, loving smile, and the intensity of her blue-grey eyes.
Connie is survived by her daughter, Marjorie Cullerne, three grandchildren, Naomi, Nadine and Laura-Jane, and two great-grandchildren, Ben and Madalyn.
“Flying and floating, soaring and swaying -
My soul wings its way o’er the sea.”