Richard Barron (Butch) Connell passed away Friday, September 27,2002 at Carolinas Medical Center. Butch was one of my best childhood friends. We attended Oakhurst, McClintock and East every year together and played on the East golf team. I had the privilege of working several summers helping Butch and his father build Larkhaven Golf Course. To this end, he and I played the very first round of golf there with his father prior to opening the course to the public the next day. My wife Ann and I were the godparents to his first child, Niall . I truly miss Butch and wish he was here to attend the upcoming reunion of the Class of 1961.
Butch and I were distant kin, and we played in "THE" EastMeck band. He was excellent on bari, and could read charts so well, yes I was jealous, and he liked the way I could adlib in any concert key at the drop of a hat. I always kept up with Larkhaven, his family and my family owned adjoining land tracks that we sold one year before he passed. I can still remember us sitting in his office in the new clubhouse, listening to a song I penned for him "Larkhaven", talking East/"THE"band/Mr. Fisher, and real estate. How our families were gonna close on smart deals? His family then mine did finally close on property adjoining the golf course, actually using it as a hook for the sales. I really miss him, particularly, every time I play a round of golf there. And when I get to that cement "bench" dedicated in his memory, I almost loose it every time; dd's not worth a hoot the next couple of greens, cause I'm remembering how good he was on any course, and boy, when he would "bet the farm"; and on Larkhaven where we always had a few. Then,
"We were both drunk driving & I'm 5 putting,...Butch lovin his Wilgrove 'slice', it was oh so nice"....
Doug Thomas
Richard Barron (Butch) Connell passed away Friday, September 27,2002 at Carolinas Medical Center. Butch was one of my best childhood friends. We attended Oakhurst, McClintock and East every year together and played on the East golf team. I had the privilege of working several summers helping Butch and his father build Larkhaven Golf Course. To this end, he and I played the very first round of golf there with his father prior to opening the course to the public the next day. My wife Ann and I were the godparents to his first child, Niall . I truly miss Butch and wish he was here to attend the upcoming reunion of the Class of 1961.
D. Denny Allen
Butch and I were distant kin, and we played in "THE" EastMeck band. He was excellent on bari, and could read charts so well, yes I was jealous, and he liked the way I could adlib in any concert key at the drop of a hat. I always kept up with Larkhaven, his family and my family owned adjoining land tracks that we sold one year before he passed. I can still remember us sitting in his office in the new clubhouse, listening to a song I penned for him "Larkhaven", talking East/"THE"band/Mr. Fisher, and real estate. How our families were gonna close on smart deals? His family then mine did finally close on property adjoining the golf course, actually using it as a hook for the sales. I really miss him, particularly, every time I play a round of golf there. And when I get to that cement "bench" dedicated in his memory, I almost loose it every time; dd's not worth a hoot the next couple of greens, cause I'm remembering how good he was on any course, and boy, when he would "bet the farm"; and on Larkhaven where we always had a few. Then,
"We were both drunk driving & I'm 5 putting,...Butch lovin his Wilgrove 'slice', it was oh so nice"....
"FORE", "more to go Butch". dd