Adrian WIlliam Fennelly

Obituary

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Adrian William Fennelly at the age of 80 on Saturday, January 23, 2021 at his home in Bedford, Nova Scotia leaving behind his wife, Judith Grant, daughter Linda (Jay), son Denis, step daughter Jennifer Thorpe (Andy) and step son, Matthew Thorpe, grandchildren Tia, Jeremy, Taylor, and step grandchild, Sam. Siblings include Pauline Fennelly in California, Leonnie MacDonald, and Vonnie Walsh in St. John's, John Fennelly and his wife Liz in Ottawa, along with a huge number of nieces, nephews and cousins.

Adrian was predeceased, by his parents, John and Beatrice Fennelly, son Roland Fennelly, sisters Wilhelmina Fennelly, Mary Hagan, brothers Patrick and Martin, brother-in-law, Fred MacDonald, Mike Walsh, Clar Hagan, and sister-in-law’s Myrtle and Mary Fennelly.

Adrian was born in Admiral's Cove, now know as Port Kirwan on the Southern Shore of Newfoundland and started his higher education at St. Bernard’s in a one room school (with a potbelly stove). As a young man, Adrian taught school at Holy Cross in St. Johns before enlisting in the Canadian Air Force where he served from 1958 to 1971. Adrian worked on the Air Force’s earliest computer systems and it was in Moncton that he raised his 3 children with their mother, Yvonne.

After the military, Adrian began working for the Federal government including Employment Insurance in Ottawa and Moncton, then Ottawa for a consulting firm before retiring in 2001.

In 1994 he asked his wife to go on a blind date. Judith knew when she saw him standing against the wall with his arm bent at his hip, that she was going to marry that guy. She never regretted that decision. The couple spent many years in Moncton, Ontario and the US before they moved back to the east coast settling in Bedford NS, where Adrian fussed around the house doing everything from painting, to finding new ways to use stained glass to planting orchids everywhere. Adrian was a no-nonsense kind of guy; he was fiercely proud of his Newfoundland heritage. He couldn’t stand fools of any kind, especially politicians.

A celebration of his life with an Irish wake will be held when it is safe to do so (in the community he grew up it) after the COVID-19 has disappeared. Donations can be made to a charity of one's choice and to share condolences at www.eastcoastmemorial.ca.