Born on October 20, 1953 in South Carolina. Brought down November 4, 2002.
From ?:
I always thought she was a real nice person.
From Rob Anderson:
Last Friday, I was triaging my attic contents to make room for more contents that
my kids will inevitably leave behind as they go off respectively to Korea, LA, and college somewhere.
This is an activity I do perhaps every five years, but some of my boxes had not seen light of day in several decades. I came across a fabulous 8-18" get-well card that Connie and Maureen Newton had delivered to me when I was recovering from my broken neck at age 14. Some of our classmates had signed the card with nice messages, but Connie had written all over both sides of the large envelope.
It pretty much sums up my fond memories of her. Connie was sweet, smart, and funny. We had been friends continuously from about second grade till early in our college years at UNC, and she is still one of my all-time favorite people. No one was as loving and kind as Connie.
However, in re funny: those of you that took American English with Ms. Hines in the summer of 1970
so that we could graduate early may remember that each of us recited some piece of American poetry of our choice. Connie and Mary Lou (Brown) White (I think—tell me if I’m wrong, Mary) read Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “To F*ck Is to Love Again” or something similar. Allan Ginsburg never “howled” so much as we did that day. And poor Ms. Hines trying to be liberal and tolerant while her face turned beet color watching her own career flash before her eyes. Tears came again to my eyes the day I saw Connie’s brief obit in the Carolina alumni magazine in 2003.
God bless and keep you, dear sprite!
From Tony Lorie, via email:
I am overwhelmed sometimes about how we go....
How some of our classmates made the transition so early.
Do you know what happened to Connie Oakley? I absolutely adored her.
We used to pass notes to each other during class, and giggle and giggle
and then be ejected from the classroom by Mrs. Henley
or some strict teacher who couldn't take the under-cover laughing..
What happened to this beloved person?
From Mary Lou (Brown) White:
It is hard to write this, Connie was so special to me.
She was the most important teacher I had during my junior and senior high school years.
She was my best friend and I was always sort of in awe of her.
She had so many talents and was just so aware of things I never even thought of.
She introduced me to poetry and philosophy and much of the music I still love.
Her room was a work of art, with pictures and quotes and stuff everywhere.
We did the same bad things everyone else did, and wasted way too much time goofing off,
but she also took me to the stacks at the UNC library where we would spend hours tucked
away in those dark and dusty places, and read to ourselves and out loud to each other.
Or we would go to the Intimate Bookshop downtown, again to look through books of poetry.
I think Connie taught me how to think more deeply, how to look at life more seriously, and how to see beauty everywhere.
I remember the same summer Rob Anderson mentions
(I don't remember the specific poem he mentions - sure wish I did!)
but I do remember us doing a play that summer - was it "The Sandbox"?
I remember we used to go swimming (illegally) in Eastwood Lake, and we would rehearse in the water. The cops came one day and were going to arrest us but someone wiggled us out of trouble.
That was a FUN summer!
I miss her very much.