Dr. Barbara Murphy McConnell, 89, died Friday, June 19th surrounded by her children in the

hospice facility of Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Dr. McConnell was a resident of

Gainesville since childhood.

Dr. McConnell is survived by her children and their spouses, Dr. Thomas McConnell of

Spartanburg, SC; Laura Alyson McConnell and Alan Knoll of Montgomery, AL; and John and

Emily McConnell of Helen; and by her grandchildren Benjamin Knoll, John A. McConnell, and

Rosemary Van Dyke. Dr. McConnell was preceded in death in 2005 by her husband, Thomas

Judson McConnell Jr., whom she married in 1960, a fellow schoolteacher and eventually a

computer consultant.

Born to John and Mae Murphy during the Great Depression in 1937, she grew up in the shadow

of World War II, attending Gainesville High School and then Mercer University, where she

acquired her teaching credentials. She also received a Master’s of Education from the

University of North Georgia, and eventually a Doctorate in Education from the University of

Georgia in 1989.

Dr. McConnell spent her professional years first as a high school teacher and then as a middle

school teacher. Her dedication to her students reached outside the classroom as she could

always be counted on to procure a winter coat for a student who needed one. Dr. McConnell

was teacher of the year at Fair Street School in 1984-1985. 

She was the cofounder of the Fleur De Lis Garden Club, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, where she served as both a deacon and the Superintendent of Sunday School. Dr. McConnell was a Guardian ad Litem in retirement. She loved and took care of her elderly neighbors as if they were her own family. She loved dogs and babies and old movies, and was an avid reader with a passion for mystery novels and royal biographies. Dr. McConnell was a baseball fan who cheered for her beloved Braves even when they lost. She loved a good joke or story, and laughed often and well.

Visitation for Dr. McConnell will be at the Little & Davenport Funeral Home Sunday, June 28, 5-7 pm. Interment will be Monday morning at 11 at the Lawrence Cemetery in Helen, Ga, next to her husband, with services following at 2 pm at First Presbyterian Church in Gainesville.

In lieu of flowers, it was Dr. McConnell’s wish to have donations sent to Habitat for Humanity, www.habitat.org.

Those wishing to leave condolences may do so at www.littledavenport.com

Little & Davenport Funeral Home are in charge of arrangements.