Stephen Paul McConnell, D.D.S., of Villanova, PA and Stone Harbor, NJ., passed away on Thursday November 23, 2006 at the Bryn Mawr Hospital. He was 72.
Dr. McConnell was born in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia in 1934. He was president of his class at Roxborough High School. At Gettysburg College he was a member of the varsity soccer team and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. After graduating from Temple University Dental School he was commissioned a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Upon discharge from the Navy he returned to Temple University for his graduate degree in Orthodontics and went on to serve there as an adjunct professor for more than 25 years. Temple University awarded him its Certificate of Honor 1986 in recognition of his service to the Dental School. Although he was past president of the Philadelphia County Dental Society, the Philadelphia Society of Orthodontists and the Temple University Dental Alumni Society, his greatest professional satisfaction came from seeing the beautiful smiles on the thousands of patients he treated during his thirty-eight years of orthodontic practice in Philadelphia and Cape May County, NJ.
Dr. McConnell was an avid sportsman who loved new challenges. With his family he sailed his sloop in the Chesapeake Bay and skied throughout North America and Europe. He enjoyed tennis, swimming, SCUBA diving and flying his airplane. As a ham radio operator, he communicated in Morse code with people around the world. He was a gifted artist who hand carved beautiful song and shore birds.
Dr. McConnell was a summer resident of Stone Harbor, NJ, where he was active in the community. He was a past Commodore of the Yacht Club of Stone Harbor and a member of The Merion Cricket Club, the Sons of the Revolution, The St. Andrews Society, and the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.
He is survived by his wife, Gail Hawkins McConnell, his son, Stephen P. McConnell, Jr., Esq. (Mandy), his daughter, Stephanie McConnell Moleski, M.D. (Charles), grandsons, S. Paul McConnell, III. and Bryce Walter Moleski, a sister, Jane E. Henry, and a brother, Allen C. McConnell.
A Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday November 29, 10:00 AM at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, 625 Montgomery Ave., Bryn Mawr, PA. Interment will be in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, PA. Relatives and friends are invited to a viewing on Tuesday from 7 to 9 PM at McConaghy Funeral Home, 328 W. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, PA 19003.
In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 9425 Third Ave. Stone Harbor, NJ 08247 or to the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, 625 Montgomery Ave. Bryn Mawr, PA 19010