Myra E. Connor

Myra Elaine (Wallace) Connor, 82, died peacefully, with her family by her side, on February 11, 2022, after an extended period of declining health. The daughter of George and Martha (Cooper) Wallace, she was born in Lenox, MA, and grew up in East Lansing, MI, graduating from East Lansing High School in 1957. She committed her life to Jesus as a teenager, and remained faithful to Him ever after, often saying that anyone who loved Him was her brother or sister in Christ, and encouraging others in their walk with Him. She received her BA in foreign languages in 1961 from Kent State University, where she met her husband, James R. Connor, through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last August. They adopted some of the beliefs and practices of Mennonite friends and attended a number of churches over the years. For the last four decades, Myra belonged to the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Wakefield, RI, where she taught Sunday school for a number of years. The family lived briefly in Ohio, England, Maryland and Connecticut, before settling in Peace Dale, RI, in 1970. Myra taught at various schools before she and her husband started South County Christian Day School, which they ran for four years during the 1970s. At other points, she homeschooled her daughters and other children. As refugees from Vietnam started arriving in the area, she taught them English and helped with resettlement. Myra also had an extensive ministry of communicating with family and friends through cards, letters and telephone calls, with a special outreach to numerous prisoners around the US, some of whom thought of her and her husband as mother and father. She delighted in supporting missions and sponsoring children in other countries, too. Myra had the privilege of traveling extensively domestically and abroad, spending a year in Colombia with her family as a teenager, and later visiting European and Central American countries. Family reunions in Waterbury, VT, were a special blessing. She also spent much time at home, serving her family and others. She especially enjoyed gardening, wildlife and her family’s pets, including chickens and a host of other farm animals. She is survived by her husband, James Connor; their children Tanya Connor and her fiancé, Fred Kirkpatrick; Tasha Connor; Andrew Connor and his wife, Rongling, and their children, Philip and Myra; her nephews Charles McGrath and his wife, Karen, and Thomas Brasted and his wife, Shelli, and their daughter, Harper; in-laws Daniel Connor and Mary and Donald Brasted; and many other cousins and family members, including “adopted” ones: grandchildren Krystal, Katelyn, Kristopher and Kurtis Maynard, the entire extended Nguyen family, and son Deryl Madison. She was predeceased by her foster daughter, Kimberly Maynard, and her sister and brother-in-law, Sylvia and Thomas McGrath, and their daughter, Sandra McGrath. Myra’s funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 18, at Church of the Ascension, 370 Main St., Wakefield, RI, with a reception following. Burial is private, at the convenience of the family. Myra’s family thanks all who have reached out to them.