Bert Thomas Connell

Bert Connell was born in Bremerton on June 8, 1935 to Ralph Connell and Alberta Taylor Connell. He grew up in Port Orchard and attended South Kitsap Schools until his high school graduation in 1954. He lived his entire life in Port Orchard. He served in the Army National Guard. He married Bernadine Bowman in 1955 and they had three children: Mark (deceased in 1976), Craig, and LeAnn. Bernadine preceded him in death in 1963. He married Vicky Taylor a few years later, and she also preceded him in death in 1969. He married Audrey Armstrong in 1982, who has been his loving wife until the time of his death on November 3, 2023. Together they have five living children: Linda, Craig, LeAnn, Janice, and Karen, 18 grandchildren, and 29 great grandchildren.

Bert was a man of faith, and always tried to live out his life in a manner pleasing to The Lord. He was a member of Manchester Community Church while raising his family. He attended Burley Bible Church for the last 41 years.

Bert spent 13 years working in the automotive industry for Buchmann Motors, but always had dreamed of being a log truck driver. Perhaps it was the experience as a child of shifting gears in a log truck for a friend of his father who only had one arm. He started up Bert Connell Trucking and, a few years later, Burley Creek Trucking. He had the first self-loader logging trucks on the Kitsap Peninsula. He eventually branched out into other aspects of logging, as well. He continued to work in this industry driving one of his log trucks until retiring on his 88th birthday in June of this year. In the late 1970s he became involved with real estate in Jefferson County with his friend Daryl Hedman. This friendship became a life-long real estate and old car venture resulting in buying, selling, and restoring collector cars. Bert had an eye for identifying a good car or truck.

Bert was always working, usually on his farm. He always had a few old car projects going at any given time. He was working on a few car and truck projects even in the last days of his life. He enjoyed the process and was not one to show off the end results, though did enjoy a few car shows in recent years. He was an excellent cook, and his family enjoyed many delicious meals that he had a hand in preparing. In more recent years he enjoyed hunting with his brother Jerry at their sister Kathleen’s ranch (lovingly nicknamed “the tree farm” by Bert) in Cle Elum. On his last hunting trip November 3, 2023, he went to be with his Lord and Savior while taking a nap.

There will be a memorial service at Burley Bible Church on November 25, 2023 at 1 PM.