Note: This message was originally sent on June 12, 2020
Each week, we feature a “Donor Spotlight” in a communication that is sent to all of our students, faculty, and staff. This week, we featured the Lawrence F. and Kathleen Connolly family – I thought you might enjoy this brief story to start your Friday…..
If you asked Aileen Connolly Bratton about the value of a dollar, her blue eyes would sparkle with memories of her father. Lawrence F. Connolly practiced law in post-depression Spokane and taught his four children a uniquely Jesuit blend of stewardship and activism.
“Dad told us if we had a little money, to pool it and we’d do a lot better,” she said. He backed up the lesson by example, taking Aileen as a young girl to watch the ticker tape run at the downtown stock exchange. A dozen years later, Aileen enrolled at GU, and finances continued to be a family affair.
“I was the oldest of four (children),” explained Aileen, “and Dad came to me and said, ‘I’d like you to keep track of your expenses at Gonzaga, Aileen, so I can plan for the other three.” Aileen held onto the keepsake ledger of entries listing each dime spent on ice cream and every 25-cent movie admission.
In due time, siblings Dan, Terry, and Tom followed their big sister to Gonzaga. Aileen transferred to Whitman College, where she graduated in education-psychology—and met her future husband, Robert Bratton. She taught in Olympia and Seattle-area grade schools, and then gave up blackboards and chalk for full-time motherhood with her family in Olympia.
In the 1980s, the Connolly clan was represented once again at GU by Aileen’s daughter Chris (’83), who married fellow student Len Elias (’84). Aileen credited Chris’ Gonzaga-in-Florence experience with “opening up her whole creative spirit.” The Eliases now live in Vancouver, Washington.
“My parents always said, ‘If you like it where you live, give back to the community,’” Aileen said, “Mom and Dad set a wonderful example for us, and I remember how strongly they felt about the value of education—so I wanted to do something to honor them.”
Aileen’s mother passed away in 1971, and her father died in 1984. In 1997, Aileen established the Lawrence F. and Kathleen Connolly Endowed Scholarship in their memory for Gonzaga Prep graduates, which has supported 23 students. After passing away in 2018, Aileen’s name was added to the title of the scholarship.