Dennis Clarence “Duke” Connelly (1930 – 2020)
Duke Connelly was born in Fort William, Ontario. He left home at age sixteen and joined the Canadian Armed Forces at age seventeen. He served in Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and the 2nd Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. He retired in 1974 as a Regimental Sergeant Major in the Canadian Airborne Regiment. He did UN Peacekeeping missions in Korea and Cyprus. He married Arlene Joan in 1955 in Toronto and their son Dennis was born in 1959.1)
Connelly came to the Yukon in 1950 when he was serving with the Armed Forces. After he retired from the military, he returned to Whitehorse with his family in 1974 to work for the Yukon Government.2) He worked in Education and then was the operations manager of Campground, Parks and Historic Sites. He retired from the government in 1985.3)
Duke Connelly was a hockey coach and became an Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) vice president. After his term was finished, Connelly volunteered to keep the office running when the executive director, Jim Slater, took ill. At the AYC's AGM in May 2004, Connelly received the Hanseatic Award named after the medieval Hanseatic League that linked more than 100 trading towns on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The communities came together to put political and economic pressure on the rulers of the time. The award was given by AYV president Doug Graham, who served a term on the Whitehorse council with Connelly. Connelly was first elected to the Whitehorse city council in 1991. He was defeated in his second run for office in 1994 but was elected again in 1997. Graham and Connelly served together after they won in the 2000 election. Connelly turned down his honorarium for serving and did not run in the next election. At the award ceremony, he looked back at his career and said he ran for council because too many greens were running.4)