Obituary: Hamilton’s ‘Rosie the Riveter’ was ‘an inspiring and strong woman’

Iolanda (Vi) Connolly is being remembered as a loving, inspiring and strong woman, who became a wartime symbol of women on the homefront as Hamilton's version of Rosie the Riveter.'

Working in a plant making gun mounts for Canadian destroyers, Connolly appeared on the cover of a company magazine working a drill press to encourage other women to do factory work for the war effort.

A poster then came out. Connolly wound up selling war bonds in a Hamilton parade and at many events and parties where she got the chance to do one of her favourite pastimes, sing.

Connolly spoke about her experiences at local schools, sometimes with her husband Bill, who was a navy signalman who survived the torpedo-ing of the HMCS Athabaskan off the coast of France on April 29, 1944 and spent the rest of the war in a German prison camp. He died in 2008.

Connolly died Jan. 26 at the age of 98 in a Hamilton nursing home.

She will be remembered as an inspiring and strong woman who embodied hard work, sacrifice, grace and determination," Sarah Simpson of Parks Canada and Friends of HMCS Haida said on social media. It was an honour to meet her at the Women of the War event held at HMCS Haida in 2017."

Niece Lisa Montani Veritis also spoke of her aunt's strength, class and grace.

Thank you for leading by example, paving the way for so many others and always with your bright, infectious and beautiful smile," she said.

Former mayor Bob Bratina, a friend of the couple, called them wonderful people." He added, I can't picture Vi without seeing her big warm smile."

Connolly was one of eight children born to Italian immigrants Vincenzo and Emma Montani. She arrived April 9, 1923. She and her husband married in 1942, three months before he enlisted in the navy. She lived with her in-laws on Locke Street North.

She decided to do factory work when she saw a newspaper ad asking for women to come in because it said the sooner the war work is done, the sooner the men would come home. She quit her job as a telephone operator and first worked at the Cub aircraft company, then the Norman Slater plant.

I didn't mind it at all," she told The Memory Project. Mind you, it was tough on the hands sometimes."

She eventually went to work at the Sawyer Massey Argus Company. It was there in about 1943 she was tapped to be Rosie the Riveter' while working on the mounts for Tribal Class Destroyers, such as the HMCS Athabaskan. The company wanted a woman whose husband was in the navy.

She declined because she didn't want to slight other workers.

The other women said, Put her on the cover," Connolly told The Spec in 2013.

She was soon in demand. I mean one would hear about it and then the next one would say, Well, when can you come and sing for us," Connolly told The Memory Project. I wasn't a trained singer. I just knew all the popular songs and they were mostly love songs, you know, all during the war."

She was in the dark about her husband's ship being sunk until she got a call from the mother of another member of the crew the day after it happened. She collapsed in her mother-in-law's arms. HMCS Haida picked up 47 men and 128 died in the sinking.

It wasn't until about August 1944 when she received a Red Cross card telling her Bill was rescued by the German Navy (85 were picked up). She recalled the mailman telling all the neighbours about the card while he was doing his route.

By the time he reached our home, there were at least a dozen men and women behind him," she said. Some were waving flags and others were shouting, He's alive.'"

The couple were reunited in 1945. After the war, Connolly worked in stores, banks and as a telephone operator. In 2013, she received an Italian Heritage Award of Distinction from Festitalia.

Connolly is survived by many nephews and nieces. She was predeceased by her seven siblings.

Daniel Nolan can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com