Thelma Stalter Connolly—a lifelong resident of Rockland County—died on May 27, 2017, at her home in West Nyack. Born on October 6, 1918, in Stony Point, Thelma Elizabeth Stalter attended grammar schools in Stony Point and West Nyack and graduated from Congers High School in 1937.
In 1942, she married her childhood friend and high school classmate, Joseph Connolly. In 1954, they moved to Demarest Avenue in West Nyack from Camp Shanks in Orangeburg with their two sons, Richard (born in 1945) and Arthur (born in 1947).
From the 1950s to the 1980s, Thelma worked at Lederle Laboratories in Pearl River, before retiring to care for family and friends. She is predeceased by her parents, William and Grace Johnson Stalter and ten brothers and sisters; by her husband, Joseph, her son, Arthur, and her grandson, Stefan Connolly. She is survived by her son, Richard, her granddaughter, Erin Connolly, and two great-granddaughters, Olivia and Jayden Connolly.

For more than 90 years, Thelma Stalter Connolly was a member of the Clarkstown Reformed Church in West Nyack. The origins of this church can be traced to the Netherlands and members of the Dutch Reformed Church—the first Europeans who settled here in the early 17th century—and to Germany and Switzerland during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
Remembering her life and the history of the church she loved and valued, Pastor Tom Johnston of The Brick Church in Spring Valley will perform her funeral service at Hannemann’s Funeral Home in Nyack on Friday, June 2, at noon. Interment will follow at Gary Onderdonk Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Suffern.
A memorial service is being planned at the Clarkstown Reformed Church for later this year. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Clarkstown Reformed Church Choir c/o Richard Connolly and Hannemann’s Funeral Home.